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AGATHA'S  AUNT 


AGATHA'S  AUNT 


By 
HARRIET  LUMMIS  SMITH 

t^uthtr  of 
OTHEB.  people's  BUSINESS 


xa 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright  1920 
Thb  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


pt>n»  or 

BRAUNWORTH   tl   00* 

■OOK   MANUrACTURIRS 

BROOKLYN.    N.    V. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    Boarders  Wanted 1 

II    The   Curtain   Rises .•    .     .  18 

III  A  Social  Secretary        29 

IV  Complications        ....>..'...  42 
V  Company  Manners     .........  57 

VI  Hephzibah  Comes  to  Life       .     .    ...    ..     .     .  78 

VII    Day  Dreams     ^ 94 

VIII    The  Rescue 109 

IX    An  Embarrassment  of  Riches 124 

X  A  Confession    ...........  140 

XI  A  Wilful  Man  Must  Have  His  Way   ...  155 

XII    Hephzibah  Turns  the  Tables 170 

XIII  Congratulations  Are  in  Order 184 

XIV  Confidences ,.>...  196 

XV    Underneath  the  Bough 210 

XVI  Miss  Finch  Follows  a  Classic  Example   .     .  221 

XVII    The  Day  of  Judgment 235 

XVIII    Warren  Gets  a  Tip       249 

XIX    The  Worm  Turns 264 

XX    The  Day  After 276 

XXI    Enlightenment 292 

XXII    Fellow   Travelers 305 

XXIII  An  Introduction    ,.,,..,.,,  324 


90909^  ^7 


AGATHA'S  AUNT 


AGATHA'S  AUNT 

CHAPTER  I 

BOARDERS   WANTED 

IT  WAS  too  early  in  the  season  for  lowered 
shades  or  closed  shutters.  The  spring  sunshine 
had  taken  possession  of  the  big,  many-windowed 
room,  repaying  the  hospitality  as  other  uninvited 
guests  have  been  known  to  do,  by  its  indiscreet  reve- 
lations. In  rooms  much  lived  in,  a  rather  endearing 
shabbiness  is  a  familiar  characteristic,  suggestive, 
like  a  thumbed  book,  of  homely  comfort.  The  room 
in  question  had  passed  this  stage  and  reached  the 
shabbiness  eloquent  of  poverty. 

The  paper  on  the  walls  was  faded,  and  stained 
from  a  leak  in  the  roof.  The  original  carpet  had 
been  transformed  into  a  rug  that  shrank  annually 
and  now  showed  threadbare  areas,  prophetic  of 
gaping  holes  in  the  near  future.    The  furniture,  too, 

1 


2  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

though  of  expeftsive  make,  had  arrived  At  a  point 
where  9.  series  of  surgical  operations  seemed  im- 
perative. Yel  with  it  all,  a  certain  plucky  defiance 
Was  evident  in  the  shabby  room.  Pictures  Ot  Calen- 
dars hung  over  the  discolored  spots  on  the  wall, 
furniture  arranged  to  conceal  the  weak  spofs  of  the 
carpet,  a  crocheted  shawl  thrown  Carelessly  over  the 
exposed  entrails  of  a  veteran  armchair,  a  general 
air  of  putting  the  best  foot  foremost  inevitably  sug- 
gested that  the  dilapidated  building  sheltered  youth, 
ardent  and  unconquered. 

In  the  smallest  chair  the  room  contained,  a  rock- 
ing chair  that  creaked  protestingly  under  its  light 
burden,  sat  Miss  Zaida  Finch,  darning  a  pink  silk 
stocking.  Miss  Finch's  print  dress  modestly  con- 
cealed her  diminutive  lower  limbs,  her  extremely 
small  shoes  scarcely  peeping  from  beneath  its  hem. 
For  all  that  the  eye  discerned,  her  anatomical  struc- 
ture might  have  been  modeled  after  that  of  Mrs. 
Shem  in  a  Noah's  ark.  Yet  with  no  evidence  to  sub- 
stantiate his  certainty,  any  observer  would  have 
vowed  that  Miss  Finch's  painstaking  toil  was  wholly 
disinterested.  It  was  impossible  to  believe  that  the 
much-mended  pink  silk  hosiery  formed  part  of  her 
wardrobCt 


BOAKDERS  WANTED  3 

The  industry  of  Miss  Finch  was  spasmodic.  One 
jnoment  she  plied  her  needle  with  an  intentness  in- 
dicating that  her  task  absorbed  her.  And  again  she 
let  the  stocking  drop  into  her  lap,  and  lost  herself 
listening  to  sounds  overhead,  footsteps,  doors  open- 
ing and  closing,  the  murmur  of  voices.  Once,  ris- 
ing, she  tiptoed  to  the  window  and  gazed  for  a  long 
breathless  moment  at  the  touring  car  be  fore  the  gate, 
the  chauffeur  puffing  a  cigarette  with  an  arrogance 
characteristic  of  the  driver  of  a  seven-passenger 
Packard,  who  knows  that  at  any  moment  a  Ford 
roadster  may  round  the  curve  ahead. 

Despite  occasional  lapses  Miss  Finch  was  darning 
industriously  when  the  voices  overhead  sharpened 
noticeably,  A  light  staccato  of  high  heels  tapping 
the  uncarpeted  staircase  jvas  followed  by  the  slam- 
jning  of  a  door  violently  enough  to  shake  the  build- 
ing. INIiss  Finch,  groping  vainly  for  the  interpre- 
tation of  these  sounds,  found  her  gaze  drawn  to  the 
window  as  the  Packard  swept  along  the  highway, 
its  horn  bleating  an  impassioned  farewell. 

Xhe  door  at  the  rear  of  Miss  Finch's  chair  opened 
emphatically,  with  such  emphasis  indeed,  that  the 
door-knobs  parted  company,  one  falling  into  the 
hall,  the  other  projecting  itself  in  the  direction  of 


4  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Miss  Finch  as  if  with  hostile  intent.  And  close  upon 
this  demonstration  a  girl  entered  the  room  and 
flung  herself  into  one  of  the  ragged  armchairs. 

The  owner  of  the  pink  silk  stocking  was  revealed. 
It  was  all  in  keeping  with  her  audacious  color 
scheme.  Her  hair  was  obviously  red,  and  instead  of 
modestly  disguising  the  fact,  it  used  every  known  ar- 
tifice to  attract  attention  to  itself,  curling  and  crink- 
ling and  brazenly  thrusting  out  tendril-like  locks  to 
catch  the  beholder's  gaze.  Her  eyes  should  have 
been  blue,  according  to  all  precedent,  but  instead 
they  matched  her  hair,  a  daring  reddish-brown,  with 
yellow  flecks  like  floating  gold-leaf.  Ordinarily  her 
skin  was  creamy  till  the  multiplying  freckles  of 
summer  temporarily  disguised  its  fairness,  but  at 
this  moment  some  intense  emotion  dyed  her  crimson 
from  her  throat  to  the  roots  of  her  hair.  Over  a 
blue  house  dress  she  wore  a  sweater  of  vivid  green, 
assumed,  if  the  truth  be  told,  noiE  for  the  sake  of 
warmth  but  to  conceal  her  patched  elbows.  Her 
entrance  into  the  room  accentuated  its  faded  dingi- 
ness  and  bleached  Miss  Finch  to  the  color  of  ashes. 
Even  the  spring  sunshine  paled  before  her  rainbow 
effect. 

"Well,  Fritz!"  The  girl  used  the  incongruous 


BOARDERS  WANTED  5 

nickname  with  the  carelessness  of  long  custom.  "It's 
all  over." 

"All  over!"  Miss  Finch  echoed  in  alarm.  The 
claming  tgg  dropped  from  her  lap  and  spun  dizzily 
upon  the  floor,  while  its  owner  blinked  rapidly  as  if 
the  radiant  presence  in  the  armchair  dazzled  her 
eyes. 

"Yes.  That  was  Mrs.  Leavett,  the  one  who  saw 
my  advertisement  in  the  Onlooker,  and  wrote  and  en- 
gaged board  for  herself  and  two  children." 

Miss  Finch  rolled  her  eyes  heavenward.  Under 
the  matter-of-fact  statement  she  scented  calamity. 

"It  occurred  to  her  that  she'd  like  to  see  the  place 
before  she  came.  And  now  she's  seen  it,  she's  not 
coming.    She  says  my  ad  was  misleading." 

"It  was  a  very  good  advertisement,  I'm  sure,'* 
protested  Miss  Finch.  "I  didn't  know  myself  how 
pleasant  the  pl^ce  jvas  till  you  read  me  what  you'd 
written." 

The  girl  laughed  out.  The  naive  defense  had  the 
effect  of  partly  dissipating  her  anger  and  bringing 
an  evasive  dimple  into  view. 

"I  leave  it  to  you,  Fritz,  if  I  told  a  single  whop- 
per. I  said  the  rooms  were  large  and  airy,  and  I 
didn't  state  that  the  paper  was  peeling  off  the  walls. 


6  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

I  mentioned  the  lawn  and  the  shade  trees,  and  failed 
to  add  that  the  house  needed  painting.  It  is  not  the 
business  of  the  seller,  Fritzie  dear,  to  call  attention 
to  any  little  defects  in  the  article  he  is  trying  to  dis- 
pose of.  Mrs.  Leavett  overlooked  that  point.  Not 
a  business  woman,  evidently." 

"The  vines  cover  a  good  bit  of  the  house  any- 
way," commented  Miss  Finch  resentfully.  "'What 
does  a  little  paint  more  or  less  matter  to  a  summer 
boarder?" 

"Mrs.  Leavetf  seemed  under  the  impression  that 
it  mattered  to  her.  She  was  so  very  snippy  that  at 
last  I  asked  her  if  she  didn't  think  that  to  be  un- 
painted  in  these  days  was  rather  a  mark  of  distinc- 
tion. Since  you  didn't  see  the  lady,  Fritz,  you  can 
hardly  appreciate  the  insinuating  cleverness  of  that 
inquiry.  The  red,  red  rose  has  nothing  on  her.  Such 
a  lovely,  fast-color  carmine,  warranted  to  go  through 
a  fainting  fit  without  fading.'* 

*Tf  you're  going  to  have  boarders,  Agatha,'*  Miss 
Finch  remonstrated,  "you've  got  to  keep  a  tight 
rein  on  your  temper.'* 

"I  did,  Fritz ;  I  was  preternaturally  amiable  till  I 
saw  that  the  game  was  up.  Then  I  thought  I  might 
as  well  relieve  my  feelings.    The  woman  seemed  to 


BOARDERS  WANTED  ^ 

take  it  as  an  affront  that  I  wasn't  my  own  grand- 
mother. She  said  for  a  girl  of  my  age  to  advertise 
for  boarders  was  a  piece  of  presumption,  and  she 
wanted  to  know  if  I  didn't  have  a  guardian — as  if 
I  were  weak-minded." 

Miss  Finch's  contemptuous  sniff  breathed  sympa- 
thetic scorn. 

"I'm  not  ashamed  of  being  only  nineteen.  Every- 
body has  to  be  nineteen  some  time,  except  the  people 
who  die  in  infancy.  As  I  said  to  Mrs.  Leavett,  if 
you're  too  young,  time  will  mend  it.  But  being  too 
old  isn't  so  easily  remedied." 

"Was  she  old?"  inquired  Miss  FlncH  suspiciously. 

"Older  than  she  wants  any  one  to  think,  Fritz. 
She's  the  sort  of  woman  who  talks  about  her  little 
son  when  he's  a  sophomore  in  college,  smoking  an 
enormous  meerschaum."  Agatha's  angry  color  had 
subsided  to  a  becoming  pink,  and  her  eyes  were 
luminous  with  mischief.  "I'm  going  to  try  the  frank, 
open  style  in  ads,  since  the  other  doesn't  seem  to 
work.  I  shall  want  your  opinion  on  it,  Fritz,  so 
prepare  to  give  me  your  undivided  attention."  She 
flitted  to  the  writing  desk  and  began  scribbling  on 
the  back  of  a  convenient  envelope  and  Miss  Finch 
utilized  the  pause  to  recover  her  elusive  darning  t'g'g. 


8  AGATHA'S  AUNT. 

dropping  her  thimble  in  the  process.  Before  she 
could  capture  the  latter  runaway,  Agatha  was  ready 
for  her  services  as  critic. 

"Boarders  wanted.  A  spinster  aged  nineteen,  of 
uncertain  temper,  will  accommodate  a  limited  num- 
ber of  boarders  at  her  country  place,  Oak  Knoll. 
Rooms  large  and  airy,  special  ventilation  secured 
through  openings  in  the  roof.  In  case  of  rain,  guests 
will  be  furnished  with  tubs  to  catch  the  drippings, 
without  extra  charge.  Fine  lawn  kept  in  excellent 
order  by  the  untiring  efforts  of  two  horses  and  a 
cow.  View  unsurpassed.  Meals  excellent  provided 
the  cook  is  kept  in  good  humor  by  considerate  treat- 
ment." 

She  nipped  the  handle  of  her  pen  reflectively. 
"Do  you  think  it  necessary  to  mention  that  the  cook 
and  the  proprietor  are  one  and  the  same?" 

"Agatha,"  cried  Miss  Finch  with  the  agonized 
earnestness  of  a  literal  mind,  "you  mustn't  think  of 
sending  that  to  the  paper.  Taking  boarders  is  a 
good  deal  like  getting  married.  There's  a  whole 
lot  you've  got  to  keep  dark,  or  you  might  as  jvell 
give  up  first  as  last." 

Her  outburst  terminated  in  a  sniff.  Immediately 
the  tip  of  her  pale,  seemingly  bloodless  little  nose  be- 
came as  red  as  a  cherry,  the  instantaneous  sequel  of 
tears,  with  Miss  Finch. 


BOARDERS  WANTED  9 

**You're  so  smart,  Agatha,"  sHe  quavered.  "If 
only  you'd  sell  this  house  and  wash  your  hands  of 
Howard  and  me,  who  haven't  the  least  claim  on 
you,  you  could  go  to  the  city  and  look  around  and 
like  enough  find  a  husband.  There's  plenty  of  men 
3vho  don't  mind  red  hair." 

Agatha  ignored  the  encouragement.  "Howard  is 
my  brother." 

"Just  like  children  pretend  in  play.  He's  your 
stepma's  son.  There's  not  a  drop  of  Kent  blood  in 
him,  and  not  a  mite  of  Sheldon  in  you.  But  in- 
stead of  giving  your  mind  to  getting  married  like 
a  girl  needs  to  do  in  these  days,  you're  all  the  time 
worrying  about  educating  that  boy." 

"I'm  going  to  send  Howard  to  college  if  I  live. 
I'd  rather  do  that  than  have  twenty  husbands." 

"Then  if  that  wasn't  enough,"  lamented  Miss 
Finch  tearfully,  "here  I  am,  a  good-for-nothing 
cumberer  of  the  ground,  for  you  to  fuss  and  plan 
for.  Don't  tell  me!  All  the  reason  you  keep  this 
place  is  to  have  a  home  for  me  and  Howard.  And 
it  ain't  right  or  fair." 

Agatha  crumpled  the  advertisement  inspired  hy 
the  visit  of  Mrs,  Leavett  into  an  inky  wad,  and  took 
aim  at  the  spider-like  blotch  on  the  ceiling.    Then 


10  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

crossing  the  room  swiftly,  she  Hugged  the  limp  little 
woman  to  her  heart. 

"You'll  make  me  cry  myself  if  you're  hot  careful. 
You  want  to  deprive  me  of  my  family  and  my  chap- 
eron at  one  swoop,  and  turn  me  out  into  the  world  a 
solitary  orphan,  you  heartless  creature."  She  si- 
lenced Miss  Finch's  gurgled  protests  with  a  kiss. 
*'Hush!"  she  said  iauthoritatively.  "Jhere  comes 
Howard  on  the  pony,  He  mustn't  know:  ianjrthing 
about  this." 

The  beat  of  hoofs  ceased  abruptly  and  a  boy's 
swinging  step  sounded  on  the  porch.  To  save  the 
trouble  of  walking  ten  feet  to  the  door,  Howard 
raised  the  nearest  window  of  the  living-room,  and 
made  an  unconventional  entry.  He  was  a  hand- 
some lad  of  sixteen,  and  Agatha's  idol.  She  had 
been  as  ready  as  most  young  girls  to  resent  her 
father's  second  marriage,  but  all  her  childish  hostil- 
ity vanished  at  the  sequel,  the  chubby  little  boy 
who  was  her  stepmother's  contribution  to  the  family 
circle.  She  had  longed  for  a  brother  with  the  pas- 
sionate yearning  of  a  lonely  child,  and  just  when  she 
had  given  up  hope,  a  brother  was  hers.  Agatha's 
sense  of  proprietorship  had  grown  with  the  years. 
Nothing  irritated  her  more  than  the  suggestion  that 


BOARDERS  WANTED  11 

the  tie  between  Howard  and  herself  was  less  bind- 
ing than  that  of  blood. 

The  boy  drew  three  letters  from  his  pocket,  slap- 
ping them  down  on  the  table. 

"You're  getting  to  be  pretty  popular,  Aggie. 
Every  time  I  go  to  the  village  there's  mail  for  you. 
Two  letters  yesterday  and  three  to-day." 

"How  warm  you  look,  Howard."  Agatha  pushed 
the  boy's  heavy  hair  back  from  his  moist  forehead. 
"You  mustn't  get  overheated  and  take  cold."  She 
was  deliciously  maternal  in  her  solicitude  for  the 
sturdy  youngster  who  already  topped  her  by  an  inch 
or  two. 

"I'll  look  warmer  before  the  day's  over.  I'm 
going  to  tackle  the  garden  now.  If  you'd  ever  seen 
summer  boarders  eat  new  green  peas  you'd  know, 
'twas  time  to  get  busy." 

Howard  departed  as  he  had  come,  and  his  sister, 
her  face  overcast,  gave  her  attention  to  her  mail. 
The  first  letter  opened  was  flung  petulantly  to  the 
floor. 

"Woman  wants  to  know  how  many  bathrooms 
we  have,  and  will  I  please  send  her  the  names  of  sev- 
eral former  patrons  as  references.  Worse  than  Mrs. 
Leavett." 


IZ  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"The/re  an  unreasonable  lot,  summer  boarders/' 
acquiesced  Miss  Finch. 

The  second  letter  was  as  unsatisfactory,  judging 
from  the  impetuosity  of  Its  flight  across  the  room. 

"She's  the  widow  of  a  missionary  and  wants 
board  at  half  rates,  and  the  younger  children  not  to 
count." 

"I  don't  believe  you've  got  the  temper  for  running 
a  boarding-house,"  commented  Miss  Finch.  "You're 
as  fiery  as  red  pepper  and  next  to  the  married  state, 
keeping  boarders  calls  for  a  saintly  disposition." 

Agatha  prying  open  the  third  communication  with 
a  hairpin,  vouchsafed  no  reply.  But  her  perturbed 
air  changed  magically  to  breathless  attention.  Her 
eyes  moved  slowly  down  the  typewritten  page,  her 
air  of  stupefaction  increasingly  in  evidence.  Check- 
ing herself  with  an  impatient  gesture,  she  started 
again  at  the  beginning  and  read  the  letter  aloud : 

"  'My  Dear  Miss  Kent  : 

"  'My  attention  has  just  been  called  to  your  adver- 
tisement in  the  current  Onlooker.  I  can  hardly 
hope  that  you  remember  me,  for  it  Is  over  twenty 
years  since  our  last  meeting,  and  at  that  time  I  was 
an  insignificant  urchin  of  twelve — '  " 

"Over  twenty  years,"   Miss  Finch  interjected, 

"and  you  nineteen  last  week." 


BOARDERS  WANTED  ,1,3 

"  *I  remember  you  distinctly.  However,  and  your 
beautiful  old  place  with  its  fine  grounds  and  noblei 
trees.  When  I  explain  that  I  am  the  son  of  John 
Forbes  you  will  understand  that  my  visit  with  my 
father  was  a  memorable  occasion.  He  died  soon 
after,  as  you  remember,  but  he  often  spoke  of  our 
week  at  Oak  Knoll  and  his  affectionate  admiration 
for  yourself.' " 

A  flicker  of  understanding  illumined  Miss  Finch's 
blank  face. 

"I'm  beginning  to  see  daylight,"  she  interrupted. 
"The  man's  fooled  by  the  likeness  of  names.  He 
thinks  he's  writing  to  your  great-aunt,  Agatha  Kent. 
She'd  be  between  sixty  and  seventy  if  she  were  liv- 
ing.'* 

Agatha  had  already  solved  the  puzzle.  She 
nodded  and  read  on,  too  interested  to  pause  for  dis- 
cussion : 

"  *I  have  played  in  rather  hard  luck  recently.  I 
contracted  a  severe  form  of  malaria  in  my  South 
American  trip  last  year  which  has  resulted,  strangely 
enough,  in  a  loss  of  eyesight,  only  temporary,  the 
doctors  hope.  For  six  months  I  have  gone  about 
with  my  eyes  bandaged.  At  present  the  building  up 
of  my  general  health  seems  the  most  important  step 
in  my  recovery  and  I  wish  to  secure  board  in  some 
retired  country  place  with  a  bracing  climate,  like 
that  of  Bridgewater. 

"  *In  case  you  were  willing  to  burden  yourself 


H  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

with  a  blind  boarder,  I  should,  of  course,  insist  on 
paying  more  than  the  moderate  rates  mentioned  in 
your  ad.  I  should  also  wish  to  engage  the  services 
of  some  youth  in  the  neighborhood  who  could  serve 
as  valet  and  companion.  I  could  bring  an  attendant 
from  the  city  but  would  prefer  a  country  boy,  who 
would  not  be  continually  pining  for  roof  gardens 
and  like  diversions.  His  work  will  be  exacting,  of 
course,  for  no  child  is  as  helpless  as  I,  but  I  will  pay 
well  in  addition  to  his  board  and  will  try  to  make 
his  labors  as  agreeable  as  possible. 

"  *I  have  written  at  length  because  I  wish  you  to 
understand  just  what  you  are  letting  yourself  in  for, 
if  you  admit  me  to  Oak  Knoll.  The  remembrance 
of  your  benevolent  face  which  even  to  my  unobserv- 
ant boy  self  seemed  to  express  your  kindly  nature, 
is  my  only  reason  for  thinking  that  possibly  your  an- 
swer will  be  favorable. 

"  '.Yours  very  truly, 

"  *BuRTON  Forbes.'  " 

Mechanically  Agatha  folded  the  letter  and  re- 
turned it  to  its  envelope.  She  spoke  in  a  rapturous 
half  whisper.  "A  blind  man.  H  it  had  been  planned 
on  purpose,  it  couldn't  have  been  more  perfect. 
Please  don't  tell  me  I'm  dreaming,  Fritz." 

Miss  Finch  rubbed  her  nose  fretfully,  a  sign  of 
perturbation.    "Have  you  thought — " 

"He  can't  see  that  the  paper  is  peeling  off  the 
3vall,"  Agatha  continued  ecstatically.    "But  he'll  ap- 


BOARDERS  WANTED  15 

predate  the  rooms  being  large  and  airy.  He  won't 
worry  because  the  house  needs  painting,  but  he  can 
enjoy  sitting  under  the  shade  of  the  trees.  I  can 
even  feed  him  fried  chicken  while  the  rest  of  us  are 
eating  cod-fish  gravy.  It's  an  interposition  of 
Providence." 

Miss  FincH  was  hectoring  her  nose  again.  "But 
how  are  you  going  to  manage — -" 

**He  wants  a  boy  as  an  attendant,"  persisted 
Agatha  jubilantly.  "Howard  is  the  boy.  He'll 
pay  him  well,  and  pay  me  for  his  board.  If  only 
I'm  not  delirious.  Oh,  I  want  to  jump  and  scream. 
Howard's  next  year  in  school  is  all  provided  for. 
And  if  Mr.  ^Vhat's-his-name  jyould  only  stay  blind 
till—" 

"I  guess  you're  forgetting  one  thing."  Miss  Finch 
raised  her  voice  challengingly,  "You  ain't  your 
great-aunt." 

Agatha  regarded  the  interruption  with  irritation. 
"Well!" 

''It's  her  he  wants  to  board  with.  He  imagines 
she's  a  nice,  motherly  old  soul,  who'll  pet  him  up 
and  feed  him  up.  It  ain't  likely  he'd  think  of  en- 
gaging board  with  a  flighty  young  girl.    I  don't  say 


16  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

you're  not  as  competent  as  though  you  were  sixty. 
But  he  wouldn't  believe  it." 

The  glow  illuminating  the  girl's  face  flickered  de- 
fiantly under  this  chilling  blast  of  common  sense, 
and  went  out,  like  a  candle  in  the  wind.  She  drew 
her  arched  brows  into  a  meditative  pucker  and  sat 
musing  while  Miss  Finch,  humanly  complacent  over 
having  suggested  a  difficulty,  gave  her  whole  atten- 
tion to  her  darning,  leaving  Agatha  to  wrestle  with 
the  solution. 

"Fritz,"  the  girl  breathed  at  last,  "do  you  believe 
in  reincarnation?" 

Miss  Finch  tried  to  look  as  if  she  understood  the 
meaning  of  the  word.  With  an  adroitness  for 
which  few  would  have  given  her  credit,  she  re- 
plied, "I  won't  say  I  do,  and  I  won't  say  I  don't." 

"Well,  it's  true,  Fritz.    I  am  my  own  great-aunt." 

"Land  alive!"  cried  Miss  Finch,  startled  into 
close  attention. 

"Mr.  Burton  Forbes  wants  to  engage  board  for 
the  summer  with  Miss  Agatha  Kent.  Well,  I'm 
Agatha  Kent.  He  imagines  that  I'm  a  nice  com- 
fortable old  lady  with  white  hair  and  a  double  chin. 
Very  well.  It  would  be  a  hard  heart  that  would 
disappoint  a  blind  man  in  such  a  trifle." 


BOARDERS  WANTED  17 

"You  mean,"  gasped  Miss  Finch,  "that  you're 
going  to  deceive  him?" 

"Heaven  forbid.  But  I'm  not  going  to  unde- 
ceive him,  Fritz.  He  assumed  certain  things  about 
me.  Let  him  keep  his  illusions,  poor  soul.  He'll 
spend  a  happy  summer  with  his  father's  old  friend, 
and  then  go  away  and  recover,  I  hope." 

No  trace  of  Agatha's  shadowing  perplexity  re- 
mained. Her  eyes  had  the  mischievous  brightness 
of  a  naughty  child's.    Miss  Finch  gazed  aghast. 

"He's  bound  to  find  out  sooner  or  later.  And 
no  good  comes  of  cheating  anybody,  least  of  all  a 
Wind  man." 

"You're  not  the  stuff  for  a  conspirator,  I  can 
see  that,"  Agatha  laughed.  "You  look  positively 
frightened.  But  Howard  will  be  delighted.  He'll 
feel  like  the  hero  of  a  detective  story." 

The  window  by  which  her  brother  had  made  his 
exit  was  still  open  and  Agatha  took  her  departure 
in  the  same  informal  fashion.  But  little  Miss  Finch 
sat  bowed  in  her  chair,  as  if  the  responsibility  for 
this  newly  hatched  plot  rested  upon  her  narrow; 
shoulders,  and  crushed  her  under  its  weighi 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  CURTAIN  RISES 


THE  composition  of  a  suitable  reply  to  Burton 
Forbes*  request  proved  unexpectedly  difficult. 
Agatlia  did  not  lack  appreciation  of  the  histrionic 
demands  of  her  role.  She  suspected  the  late  John 
Forbes  of  something  more  than  a  platonic  admira- 
tion for  her  imaginary  self  and  it  was  out  of  the 
question  to  write  his  son  the  matter-of-fact  letter 
which  would  have  sufficed  for  another  blind  man, 
desiring  board  in  the  country.  As  she  composed  la- 
borious missives  only  to  destroy  them  on  the  second 
reading,  Agatha  thanked  heaven  that  the  hardships 
of  her  lot  had  not  included  the  adoption  of  a  literary 
career. 

[The  completed  letter,  however,  so  far  met  her 
exacting  requirements  that  in  satisfied  contempla- 
tion of  her  intellectual  offspring,  she  forgot  the 
pangs  attending  its  birth.  With  a  naive  compla- 
cency not  unfamiliar  among  the  craft,  she  read  the 
masterpiece  to  Miss  Finch : 

18 


THE  CURTAIN  RISES  19 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Forbes  : 

"Your  letter,  just  received,  both"  surprised  and 
touched  me.  Your  memory  must,  indeed,  be  tena- 
cious if  you  recall  me,  for  in  the  twenty  years  which 
have  passed  since  your  visit  to  Oak  Knoll  you  have, 
I  am  sure,  seen  much  better  worth  remembering 
than  a  quiet,  old  country  woman  the  best  of  whose 
life  is  now  its  golden  memories. 

"I  hardly  need  tell  you  that  my  door  would  be 
open  to  your  father's  son  under  any  circumstances, 
and  the  fact  of  your  blindness — which  I  sincerely 
trust  will  prove  temporary — only  makes  you  doubly 
welcome.  Fortunately  I  know  exactly  the  person 
for  your  attendant,  a  young  friend  of  mine  named 
Howard  Sheldon.  He  is  thoroughly  reliable  and 
the  salary  will  be  a  great  help  to  him,  as  he  is  am- 
bitious for  an  education. 

"Please  let  me  know  when  to  expect  you.  I  am 
looking  forward  to  renewing  the  friendship  begun 
so  long  ago  that  it  almost  seems  as  if  it  must  have 
been  in  another  state  of  existence. 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"Agatha  Kent/^ 

Miss  Finch  did  not  share  Agatha's  enthusiasm. 
Her  pinched  little  face  was  wan  and  worried  as  she 
conscientiously  did  her  best  to  dampen  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  proud  author. 

"That  letter  gives  me  a  dreadful  upset  feeling, 
Agatha.  I  don't  know  as  I  could  put  my  finger  on 
ja  downright  lie,  but  it  certainly  ain't  true," 


20  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

'  "It  is  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  Fritzie. 
It  is  ridiculous  for  a  little  four-page  letter  to  claim 
to  be  the  whole  truth.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fact 
about  his  being  doubly  welcome  because  he  is  blind. 
That's  truer  than  he  has  any  idea  of.** 

"  'Golden  memories,'  "  quoted  Miss  Finch  with 
severity.    "A  young  girl  like  you !" 

"That's  the  best  thing  in  the  letter,"  cried  Agatha, 
enraptured.  "I  don't  know  how  I  ever  came  to  think 
of  anything  so  clever.  'Golden  memories,' "  she 
repeated  with  the  sentimental  inflection  she  deemed 
appropriate.  "Do  you  know,  Fritz,  I  don't  believe 
it's  as  hard  to  write  books  as  the  authors  make  out." 

Disappointing  as  Miss  Finch  proved  in  the  role 
of  conspirator,  Howard's  enthusiasm  largely  com- 
pensated for  her  deficiencies.  Howard  was  in  his 
element.  To  share  in  a  plot  of  this  character  was 
rapture  beyond  words.  The  only  drawback  to  his 
happiness  was  the  fact  that  Agatha  had  described 
him  to  his  prospective  employer  as  a  reliable  boy, 
ambitious  for  an  education.  Howard  felt  that  to 
live  up  to  such  a  character  promised  an  insipid  sum- 
mer. It  would  have  added  a  tang  to  existence  had 
he  been  cast  for  a  refugee  or  a  cowboy.    It  was  with 


THE  CURTAIN  RISES  21 

difficulty  that  Agatha  brought  him  to  reHnquish  his 
determination  to  play  some  sort  of  part. 

"I  could  pretend  to  be  an  awfully  ignorant  cuss, 
don't  you  know,  Aggie.  I  could  say  'betcher  life* 
instead  of  'yes,'  and,  'not  on  your  tintype'  for  *no.'  " 

Yielding  to  his  sister's  eloquent  representations, 
Howard  reluctantly  consented  to  confine  himself  to 
his  normal  mode  of  expression  during  Mr.  Forbes' 
stay  and  bend  all  his  energy  toward  furthering  his 
sister's  success  in  the  impersonation  fate  demanded 
of  her.  His  suggestions  proved  an  almost  startling 
range  of  ingenuity.  Agatha  was  to  complain  fre- 
quently of  rheumatic  pains  in  her  knees,  and  keep  a 
cane  handy  for  strolling  about  the  grounds.  An* 
other  point  on  which  Howard  placed  great  empha- 
sis was  the  necessity  of  frequently  mislaying  her 
supposedly  indispensable  spectacles. 

"He'll  be  sure  to  suspect  something,"  insisted 
Howard,  "if  you  don't  keep  losing  your  spectacles. 
Old  folks  always  do.  And  when  I  find  them  and 
bring  them  to  you,  you  must  always  say  that  they 
are  the  ones  you  use  for  looking  far  off  and  you 
want  your  reading  glasses." 

The  exchange  of  several  letters  between  Burton 


22  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Forbes  and  his  prospective  hostess  resulted  in  an  ar- 
rangement entirely  satisfactory  from  Agatha's 
standpoint.  Her  boarder  was  to  make  the  trip  from 
the  city  without  an  attendant.  Howard  would  meet 
him  at  the  station  with  the  carryall  and  convey  him 
to  Oak  Knoll,  where  Agatha  would  make  him 
welcome  as  the  son  of  a  friend  long  dead.  The 
possibility  of  Mr.  Forbes'  enlightenment  through  the 
interference  of  neighbors  she  had  met  with  charac- 
teristic decision  by  disseminating  the  information 
that  her  home  was  to  serve  as  temporary  asylum 
for  a  blind  gentleman,  broken  in  health  and  with  an 
unconquerable  aversion  to  society.  Without  defi- 
nitely reflecting  on  Mr.  Forbes'  mental  condition, 
Agatha  succeeded  in  conveying  the  impression  that 
any  one  attempting  to  interview  her  blind  boarder 
would  do  so  at  his  own  risk. 

Youthful  audacity,  together  with  a  daring  peculiar 
to  herself,  carried  Agatha  triumphantly  through  the 
successive  stages  of  preparation.  It  was  not  until 
Howard  had  actually  driven  to  the  station  to  meet 
the  expected  arrival  that  she  began  to  appreciate  her 
own  temerity  in  committing  herself  to  so  reckless  a 
scheme.  To  be  an  old  lady  for  an  entire  summer, 
to  be  discreet  and  dignified — sufficiently  so  at  least 


THE  CURTAIN  RISES  23 

to  deceive  a  blind  man — began  to  seem  to  her  a  con- 
tract impossible  to  carry  out.  Her  knees  weakened 
under  her.  An  abnormal  acceleration  of  her  pulses 
convinced  her  that  she  was  more  frightened  than 
she  was  willing  to  admit.  As  the  time  approached 
for  Howard's  return,  she  was  almost  on  the  point 
of  offering  a  prayer  that  Mr.  Forbes  had  suddenly 
decided  on  a  summer  in  Canada. 

The  carryall  drawn  by  the  leisurely  bays  came  in 
sight  just  when  apprehension  was  reaching  the  point 
of  panic.  Agatha  strained  her  eyes.  Howard  oc- 
cupied the  driver's  place  and  in  the  comparative  ob- 
scurity of  the  back  seat  the  outlines  of  a  masculine 
figure  were  visible.  Her  throat  dry  and  her  fore- 
head unpleasantly  moist,  Agatha  went  out  upon  the 
piazza  to  receive  her  guest. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  Howard's  passen- 
ger would  not  have  seemed  a  formidable  personage. 
In  spite  of  the  disfiguring  blue  goggles,  his  clear-cut 
features  were  distinctly  prepossessing.  Moreover, 
his  air  of  helplessness  would  have  appealed  to  the 
maternal  instinct  of  any  female  five  years  old,  and 
led  her  to  constitute  herself  his  protector.  Only  a 
guilty  conscience  accounted  for  the  shrinking  with 
yvhich  Agatha  advanced  to  welcome  him. 


24  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Forbes."  She  spoke  in  the 
repressed  tones  she  imagined  befitting  age,  and  her 
fluttering  heart  imparted  a  suitable  tremolo  to  the 
greeting. 

Forbes  snatched  off  his  hat  and  put  out  a  groping 
hand.  His  abundant  brown  hair,  cut  severely  close, 
showed  a  well-shaped  head.  His  voice,  too,  was  in 
his  favor. 

"Have  I  the  pleasure — " 

"I  am  Miss  Kent."  Agatha  took  his  hand  and 
quickly  released  it.  "Bring  Mr.  Forbes'  suit-case, 
Howard.  I  suppose  you'd  like  to  go  to  your  room, 
Mr.  Forbes.    Shall  I  help  you?" 

She  put  her  hand  through  his  arm  to  guide  him, 
her  face  aflame.  Yet  her  youthful  zest  for  adven- 
ture was  asserting  itself  and  there  was  something 
contagious  in  Howard's  delight  over  actually  em- 
barking on  the  anticipated  conspiracy.  Agatha's 
breathing  steadied.  She  caught  Howard's  eye  and 
flashed  a  smile  at  him.  The  experience  was  like  a 
plunge  into  a  mountain  stream,  exhilarating  after 
the  first  shock  was  over. 

"This  is  very  good  of  you.  Miss  Kent,"  Forbes 
was  saying  as  they  ascended  the  wide  staircase,  side 
by  side.    "I  shan't  be  quite  so  helpless  as  this  when 


.  THE  CURTAIN  RISES  25 

I've  once  got  my  bearings."  His  voice  took  on  an 
interrogative  note.  "I  hardly  suppose  you  jvpuld 
have  known  me  ?" 

Agatha  threw  him  an  appreciative  glance.  "I 
think  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  for  any  onei 
who  had  known  you  to  forget  you." 

"Really?"  He  seemed  pleased.  "But  surely  I 
have  changed." 

*Tn  twenty  years?  Certainly.  Even  !"• — she 
smiled  in  enjoyment  of  her  own  daring — ^**even  I 
have  changed  since  your  last  visit." 

Howard,  on  the  stairs  behind  themi,  coughed 
loudly  by  way  of  applause,  but  Agatha's  compla- 
cency was  destined  to  be  jarred.  "Don't  make 
rash  claims,"  the  new  arrival  said  severely,  "I  feel 
you're  nothing  but  a  girL" 

"I— I—" 

"At  least  that  is  Kow  you  impressed  me  the  first 
time  I  saw  you — ^the  only  time  I've  seen  you," 
Forbes  corrected,  "as  if  you  would  never  grow  old." 

Agatha  made  a  quick  recovery.  "I  try  to  keep  a 
young  heart,"  she  replied  demurely.  "Now,  Mr. 
Forbes,  remember  that  when  you  get  to  the  top  of 
the  stairs  you  turn  toward  the  front  of  the  house^ 
and  the  door  of  your  room  is  the  first  on  your  right,"- 


eS  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

The  big  front  room  for  all  its  appalling  shabbi- 
ness,  was  deliciously  airy.  Forbes  stood  between  the 
open  windows  and  drew  deep  breaths.  "This  is 
what  I've  been  pining  for  without  knowing  it,"  he 
burst  out.  "I  have  a  presentiment  that  this  air  is 
going  to  be  just  the  tonic  I  need,  and  that  I'll  be 
seeing  again  in  a  week  or  two." 

"I  hope — so,"  lied  Agatha  with  tHe  jerkiness  of 
one  unused  to  falsehood.  "Howard,  get  Mr.  Forbes 
everything  he  needs  and  bring  him  down  to  the 
porch  when  he  is  ready,  unless  he  would  like  to  lie 
down."-  She  withdrew  sedately  and  then  atoned  for 
her  unnatural  repression  by  galloping  down  the 
stairs  and  falling  upon  Miss  Finch,  who,  having 
viewed  the  arrival  from  a  convenient  window,  had 
withdrawn  to  her  own  little  rocking  chair,  a  prey  to 
lugubrious  forebodings. 

The  panting  Agatha  revealed  no  traces  of  her  late 
misgivings.  "It's  ridiculously  easy,  Fritz,  and  the 
greatest  fun.  I  believe  I'd  have  made  a  star  actress. 
I  honestly  felt  as  old  as  the  hills,  exactly  as  if  he 
were  a  young  fellow  I'd  known  years  ago,  when  he 
was  a  little  boy.  I  was  almost  tempted  to  smooth 
back  his  hair  from  his  forehead — ^he  has  such  a 


THE  CURTAIN  RISES  27 

nice  thoughtful  forehead,  Fritz — and  imprint  a  be- 
nevolent kiss  above  his  nose/' 

"Yes,  I  saw  he  was  nice-looking,"  sighexl  Miss 
Finch.  '"Such  si,  pity  he  can't  see.  I've  often 
thought  I  wouldn't  mind  marrying  a  blind  man  or  a 
cripple  and  sacrificing  my  entire  life  to  making  him 
happy.    But  I'm  afraid  you'd  tire  of  it,  Agatha." 

"I'm  sure  I  should.  It  makes  me  tired  even  to 
think  of  such  a  thing,"  admitted  Agatha  shame- 
lessly. "But  you  don't  get  my  point  of  view,  Fritz. 
The  kiss  was  to  have  been  maternal  or  even  grand- 
motherly. He  thinks  I  am  an  old  lady  and  in  spite 
of  everything,  I  regard  myself  from  his  standpoint. 
I  never  looked  forward  to  a  summer  so  much  in  all 
my  life.  It'll  be  like  going  to  a  play  morning,  noon 
and  night."' 

Voices  soundeH  on  the  stairs,  a  man's  deep  notes 
blending  pleasantly  with  the  fresh  tones  of  a  grow;- 
ing  lad.    Agatha  seized  Miss  Finch's  arm. 

"Come  out  and  meet  him,  Fritz.  And  I  believe 
I'll  begin  calling  you  Zaida.  You're  considerably 
younger  than  I,  you  know.  Why,  what's  the  mat- 
ter?" 

Terror  in  her  eyes,  Miss  Finch  was  resisting  the 


2B  AGATHA'S.  AUNT 

friendly  propulsion.  "I'm  afraid  to  go  near  him. 
I'll  be  letting  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  and  I'm  not 
going  to  have  lies  on  my  conscience  even  for  you, 
Agatha." 

With  a  laugh  the  girl  released  her.  "Poor  old 
Fritz,  you  never  were  intended  for  a  diplomatic 
career.  But  you'll  get  used  to  it.  Train  yourself 
to  think  of  me  as  some  one  venerable  and  stately, 
long,  long  past  the  follies  of  youth."  She  advanced 
to  the  door  with  a  dancing  step  borrowed  from 
Mrs.  Vernon  Castle  as  depicted  on  the  screen,  turned 
to  kiss  her  hand  to  the  crushed  Miss  Finch,  and  dis- 
appeared in  the  direction  of  the  kitchen.  And  pres- 
ently, mingling  with  the  composite  fragrance  of  the 
garden  and  distant  hay-fields,  the  appreciative  nos- 
trils of  Mr.  Burton  Forbes  differentiated  the  less 
esthetic  but  equally  delectable  odor  of  frying 
chicken. 


CHAPTER  III 

A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY 

IN  NINETEEN  observant  years  Agatha  had 
noted  a  business  man's  invariable  interest  in  the 
local  telegraph  service,  and  the  tendency  of  lovers  to 
be  dissatisfied  with  the  mail  facilities  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  concern  manifested  by  Burton  Forbes 
on  learning  that  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  called  at 
Oak  Knoll  but  once  a  day,  classified  him  definitely, 
in  Agatha's  estimation. 

**You  can  always  send  Howard  to  the  village  for 
the  afternoon  mail,"  she  suggested,  the  new  warmth 
in  her  voice  an  unconscious  demonstration  of  the 
truth  that  all  the  world  loves  a  lover. 

"Thanks,  that's  fine!"  The  brightening  of 
Forbes'  face  quite  offset  his  immediate  conscientious 
warning  that  she  was  not  to  spoil  him  just  because 
she  was  sorry  for  him. 

As  the  Rural  Free  Delivery  brought  nothing  of 
consequence  on  the  morning  following  Forbes'  ar- 
rival, Howard  ^as  despatched  to  the  village  after 

29 


30  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

the  midday  meal,  leaving  Forbes  in  Agatha's  care. 
Agatha  conducted  her  charge  to  a  creaking  rocking 
chair,  in  the  shadiest  angle  of  the  porch,  and  shoved 
a  foot-stool  near.  "Now  I'll  get  my  knitting,"  she 
said  blithely,  "and  we'll  talk." 

Forbes  seemed  delighted.  "It's  too  good  to  be 
true,"  he  murmured.  "I  thought  they  were  extinct, 
the  old  ladies  who  sat  knitting.  It's  like  stepping 
into  the  heart  of  an  old-fashioned  story." 

Agatha  smiled  tolerantly.  "It's  clear  you're  just 
back  from  South  America.  Up  here  everybody's 
knitting,  young  and  old." 

"But  not  like  you,"  he  insisted.  "I  am  sure  you 
have  an  air  about  it  that  differentiates  your  knitting 
from  all  this  kittenish  frolicking  with  balls  of  yam." 
He  turned  his  wistful  face  toward  her  as  if  it  helped 
to  visualize  the  picture,  and  then  added,  "Just  the 
hour  for  confidences,  isn't  it?" 

Agatha  smiled  at  the  dun  colored  wool  in  Her  lap. 
"A  warm  day,  a  cool  porch,  an  old  lady  knitting, 
and  a  young  man  in  love.  Of  course  it's  ideal  for 
confidences."- 

He  did  nof  seem  in  any  Hurry  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opening  he  had  asked  for.  "I'm  afraid  I'm 
going  to  impose  on  you,"  he  said,  after  so  long  a 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  31 

pause  that  she  wondered  whether  he  were  planning 
to  deny  her  charge.  "Howard  is  a  bright  kid,  and 
I'm  sure  he'll  prove  a  satisfactory  secretary,  but 
there  are  a  few  letters  I'd  hate  to  dictate  to  a  boy." 
He  laughed  with  rather  an  engaging  air  of  shyness 
as  he  added,  "I  imagine  it  won't  be  particularly  easy 
to  dictate  them  even  to  you." 

"Of  course  not,"  agreed  Agatha,  witH  ready  sym- 
pathy. "Love-letters  seem  one's  own  business  more 
than  almost  anything  in  the  world."  His  artless 
confidences  had  brought  a  lovely  color  to  her  cheeks. 
Practical  as  Agatha  believed  herself,  she  was  ro- 
mance-hungry, and  it  did  not  matter  in  the  least  that 
in  this  particular  love-affair  she  was  cast  for  a  minor 
role.  "And  I'll  read  you  her  letters,  too,"  she 
offered  joyously.  "It  will  save  Howard  some  trying 
experiences.  Howard's  just  at  the  age  when  he's 
horribly  embarrassed  by  anything  in  the  shape  of 
sentiment." 

"Thank  you.  I'd  any  amount  rather  you  read 
them,"  returned  Forbes  gratefully.  "But  they 
won't  be  sentimental  letters,  at  all.  Howard  could 
read  them  without  finding  a  word  that  would  bring 
a  blush  to  his  maiden  cheek." 

"Oh!"  observed  Agatha  blankly,  and  knitted  to 


32  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

the  end  of  her  needle  without  speaking.  Apparently 
the  path  that  had  seemed  so  plain  led  nowhere, 
after  all. 

Forbes,  too,  seemed  in  no  haste  to  speak.  "Of 
course,"  he  explained  at  last,  "I'm  very  hopeful. 
If  I  make  a  complete  recovery  as  the  doctors  tell 
me  I'm  likely  to  do,  there's  no  reason  why  things 
shouldn't  be  as  they  were  before." 

Agatha  laid  down  her  knitting  and  regarded  him 
fixedly,  an  upright  crease  between  her  brows.  The 
tranquillity  of  his  unconscious  face  gave  the  impres- 
sion that  she  must  have  misunderstood  him.  "How 
were  they  before?"  she  asked  bluntly. 

Apparently  he  did  not  question  her  right  to  a 
categorical  answer.  "We  had  planned  to  be  married 
in  January  till  this  came  up.  But  of  course  I  couldn't 
hold  a  girl  like  Julia  when  there's  a  possibility  of  my 
having  to  grope  my  way  through  life." 

"No,  of  course  not,"  agreed  Agatha,  with  mis- 
leading calm.  "But  if  she  were  enough  in  love  with 
you  to  plan  to  marry  you  in  January,  I  should  sup- 
pose something  would  hold  her,  something  you  had 
nothing  to  do  with." 

There  was  a  moment  of  rather  tense  silence.  Then 
Forbes  laughed  out  boyishly : 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  33 

"You  dear  old  soul,"  he  cried,  "you  don't  know 
how  mid- Victorian  that  sounds.  When  you  were  a 
girl,  women  took  all  that  sentimental  stuff  seriously ; 
about  sacrificing  themselves  for  love,  I  mean.  But 
you  don't  understand  the  modem  girl.  She's  be- 
yond that." 

"I  don't  pretend  to  understand  your  Julia,"  agreed 
Agatha,  her  eyes  aflame,  "I  don't  want  to." 

Forbes  laughed  again,  this  time  with  a  reserva- 
tion in  his  mirth.  "Look  here,"  he  said,  "you  mustn't 
criticize  Julia,  for  then  I  can't  talk  to  you  about  her, 
and  that  would  be  a  deuced  bore.  And  she's  a  queen. 
A  girl  of  that  sort  is  bound  to  know  her  value.  Julia 
was  really  fond  of  me,  not  desperately  in  love  as  I 
was — as  I  am — ^that  wasn't  to  be  expected,  but  really 
fond  of  me  and  inclined  to  exaggerate  ridiculously 
my  small  achievements.  But  of  course  it's  out  of 
the  question  for  her  to  marry  me  if  the  rest  of  my 
life  is  to  be  a  game  of  Blind  Man's  Buff." 

"Per — ^perhaps  so,"  Agatha  stammered.  One  of 
her  ready  rages  was  coming  on.  She  felt  it  dis- 
tinctly. One  familiar  sjonptom  was  that  her  blood 
seemed  boiling  in  her  veins,  and  her  ears  felt  hot 
and  swollen.  She  had  seen  them  before  when  she 
was  angry,  flaming  like  two  danger  signals,  and 


34  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

tempering  the  redness  of  her  hair.  Her  shaking 
hands  made  knitting  quite  impossible.  "Of  course 
people  can't  marry  if  they  haven't  the  money  to 
marry  on,"  she  succeeded  in  saying  finally,  in  an  un- 
steady voice,  "but  there's  nothing  to  keep  them  from 
loving  each  other  till  they  die,  and  having  that  com- 
fort, anyway." 

She  had  succeeded  in  making  him  very  uncom- 
fortable. She  would  have  known  that  by  the  way 
the  rocking  chair  was  creaking  as  he  squirmed,  even 
if  his  astonished  face  had  not  borne  jyitness  to  the 
facts  in  the  case. 

"It —  it  is  not  a  question  of  money,"  he  explained 
stiffly.  "I  have  plenty,  and  so  has  she.  ^Ve're  not  ex- 
travagant in  our  tastes,  either  of  us.  The  thing 
that's  out  of  the  question — -"  He  seemed  to  find  a 
little  difficulty  in  making  it  clear,  after  all,  and  floun- 
dered at  this  point.  "You  can't  think  of  it,"  he 
protested  angrily,  "tying  a  girl  like  Julia,  a  beauti- 
ful, queenly  creature,  to  a  man  who  has  to  be  led 
around  like  a,  poodle  dog.  God!  I  couldn't  be 
coward  enough  to  accept  such  a  sacrifice." 

"Oh,  I  understand,  now."  Agatha's  anger  was 
past  the  inarticulate  stage.  She  pulled  a  needle  from 
her  knitting,  and  brandished  it  dangerously  as  she 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  35 

talked.  "You  mean  that  you  wouldn't  let  her  be 
engaged  to  you."  The  affected  innocence  of  her 
voice  was  flatly  contradicted  by  the  bitterness  of  her 
eyes.  "You  just  insisted  that  there  shouldn't  be  any- 
thing more  between  you  two  till  you  were  sure  that 
your  eyes  were  going  to  be  all  right  again.  Well,  I 
tell  you  frankly  that  I  think  you've  treated  Julia 
brutally,  and  that  she  has  a  right  to  detest  you." 

Apparently  Mr.  Forbes  was  losing  confidence  in 
his  ability  to  make  the  matter  clear.  He  sighed 
patiently  as  he  tried  again. 

"No,  that  isn't  it.  We  were  agreed  perfectly  on 
the  subject.  Love  isn't  quite  so  reckless  a  passion 
as  it  was  when  you  were  young,  Miss  Kent.  Julia 
and  I  belong  to  a  reasonable  generation,  tremen- 
dously matter-of-fact.  She  was  really  cut  up  over 
the  whole  affair,  but  she  felt  she  owed  it  to  herself 
to  break  the  engagement  since  my  future  was  so  un- 
certain, and  I  felt  I  owed  it  to  her  to  release  her. 
So  we  were  perfectly  agreed,  you  see." 

"Yes,  I  see."  Agatha  was  glaring  at  him  with 
the  expression  of  a  vixen.  "Just  as  businesslike  as 
if  you  had  been  planning  to  go  into  partnership  to 
raise  chickens,  weren't  you?  And  so  that's  what 
the  modem  girl  is  like.    Dear  me  I" 


36  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

The  edge  to  her  voice  made  her  irritation  suffi- 
ciently plain,  and  Forbes,  with  a  gentle  deference 
that  touched  her,  changed  the  topic  to  one  unlikely 
to  combat  her  old-fashioned  prejudices.  They  were 
discussing  Thackeray  and  George  Eliot  when  How- 
ard returned.  Swinging  himself  from  his  pony, 
the  boy  came  clattering  along  the  porch,  and  depos- 
ited a  package  of  mail  on  his  employer's  knees. 

"It's  lucky  I  went  over,"  Howard  declared. 
"You've  got  a  regular  windfall,  five  or  six  letters  be- 
side the  things  with  one-cent  stamps." 

In  spite  of  Mr.  Forbes'  assumption  of  ultra-mod- 
ern reasonableness,  his  countenance  betrayed  a  boy- 
ish ardor  that  added  to  Agatha's  resentment 
against  the  recreant  Julia.  She  took  possession  of 
the  letters,  saying  to  her  brother,  "You'd  better  put 
the  pony  up,  hadn't  you,  Howard?  I'll  attend  to 
Mr.  Forbes'  mail." 

Her  boarder  only  waited  for  the  beat  of  the  pony's 
hoofs  to  tell  that  Howard  was  out  of  hearing,  be- 
fore he  leaned  toward  her,  his  face  pathetically 
eager.    "Is  there  one  from  her?" 

"What's  the  post-mark?" 

"She's  probably  at  the  Briercliff  Manor,  this 
;week.    She  writes  a  striking  hand,  not  the  old-time 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  37 

idea  of  feminine,  but  full  of  character  and  strength. 
You'll  always  recognize  it  after  you've  seen  it  once." 

Unfortunately  it  appeared  that  Agatha's  education 
iri  this  important  branch  of  knowledge  was  not  to  be- 
gin immediately.  There  was  no  letter  from  Julia. 
This  fact  established,  the  light  went  out  of  Forbes' 
face,  and  it  remained  blank  during  the  reading  of 
several  communications  of  varying  degrees  of  in- 
terest. For  the  first  time  he  seemed  an  embodiment 
of  all  the  pitiful  helplessness  of  the  blind. 

*T  suppose,"  he  ventured  hesitatingly,  when  she 
had  finished,  "that  you're  too  busy  to  take  a  letter 
for  me  to-day.  Got  to  go  on  with  that  knitting, 
haven't  you?" 

Agatha  longed  to  say  yes.  In  her  present  mood, 
to  transcribe  an  impassioned  letter  to  the  object  of 
Forbes'  regard,  seemed  well-nigh  intolerable.  In- 
exorably she  forced  herself  to  reply  that  she  was  not 
in  the  least  busy.  "I'll  get  Howard  out  of  the  way 
by  sending  him  to  the  garden,"  she  added.  "He'll 
jbe  perfectly  willing  to  change  jobs  with  me." 

Howard,  who  had  the  average  boy's  aversion  to 
the  use  of  a  pen,  bore  out  her  statement  and  joy- 
fully agreed  to  picking  peas  in  place  of  acting  as  an 
amanuensis.    He  .went  his  way,  favoring  her  with 


38  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

an  almost  ribald  wink,  a  natural  reaction  from  the 
profound  respect  he  was  now  required  to  show  her. 
With  an  expression  that  would  have  befitted  Queen 
Elizabeth,  when  signing  the  death-warrant  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  Agatha  began  her  task. 

Forbes'  mood,  though  disappointed,  was  not  re- 
proachful. His  pale  face  flushing  slightly  at  the 
novel  experience  of  giving  voice  to  such  tender  sen- 
timents in  the  presence  of  a  third  person,  he  dictated 
the  letter  with  only  those  pauses  necessary  to  enable 
Agatha  to  keep  pace  with  him. 

"My  Dearest  GiRLf 

"The  afternoon  mail  has  just  been  brought  from 
the  village,  and  I  was  disappointed  at  not  receiving 
a  letter  from  you.  Disappointed  I  am,  but  not  sur- 
prised, for  I  am  sure  that  wherever  you  are,  you 
will  have  little  time  to  yourself  unless  you  take  it 
by  main  force,  so  to  speak.  That  is  the  penalty  I 
pay  for  being  in  love  with  one  so  charming. 

"I  wish  you  could  look  in  on  me  here,  at  the  home 
of  my  father's  old  friend,  Miss  Agatha  Kent.  Oak 
Knoll  is  a  fine  old  place.  [The  house  is  spacious, 
comfortable  and  homelike,  the  last  characteristic 
doubtless  due  to  the  personality  of  the  owner.  As 
Miss  Kent  is  good  enough  to  write  this  for  me,  I 
must  wait  some  other  opportunity  to  tell  you  how 
delightful  I  find  her.  Her  type  is  disappearing, 
unluckily,  which  makes  me  all  the  more  ready  to 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  39 

Congratulate  myself  on  this  chance  of  renewing  a 
friendship  which  might  almost  be  regarded  as  an 
inheritance. 

"The  troublesome  eyes  pained  me  a  little  last 
night,  but  lying  awake  was  not  altogether  fruitless, 
as  in  the  stillness  I  could  bring  your  dear  face  be- 
fore me  almost  as  vividly  as  if  I  saw  it  in  the  flesh. 
To-day  I  feel  much  better.  I  am  convinced  that  this 
wonderful  air  is  going  to  make  me  over,  and  then  in 
a  few  weeks  I  shall  again  have  a  right  to  indulge 
myself  in  the  dreaming  of  those  dreams  which  need 
no  Daniel  to  interpret  them." 

Forbes'  deep  voice  came  to  a,  halt  at  this  point. 
He  turned  his  face  toward  Agatha,  the  involuntary 
movement  showing  that  his  blindness  was  not  of 
long  duration,  and  smiled  with  that  winsome  boy- 
ishness which  made  it  impossible  to  believe  him  past 
thirty. 

"I  believe  I'll  take  my  pen  in  hand  for  the 
wind-up,  if  you  please.  Miss  Kent.  I  think  I  can 
manage  a  line  or  two,  without  making  it  illegible." 

She  brought  the  sheet  to  him,  put  the  pen  in  his 
hand,  and  indicated  where  he  was  to  begin  to  write. 
And  then  suddenly  as  she  watched  him,  the  outline 
of  his  fine  profile  was  blurred  by  angry  tears.  Some- 
thing in  his  expression  gave  her  an  inkling  of  the 
tenderness  compressed  in  those  few  straggling  lines, 


40  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

and  all  for  the  girl  who  had  "owed  it  to  herself"  to 
break  her  engagement  because  of  his  misfortune. 

"She  owes  it  to  herself  to  break  with  him,"  re- 
flected Agatha,  "but  she  doesn't  owe  it  to  him  to 
make  it  final,  and  give  him  a  chance  to  get  over  it. 
Oh,  no !  He  can  go  on  to  the  end  of  his  life  dream- 
ing about  her,  and  making  love  to  her,  and  feeding 
her  vanity  by  his  devotion.  And  then  he  calls  that 
deliberate  heartlessness  reasonable,  and  makes  him- 
self believe  that  she's  the  type  of  the  modem  girl. 
The  cat!" 

Agatha's  righteous  indignation  was  getting  the 
best  of  her.    She  said  the  last  two  words  aloud. 

"Beg  pardon!"  Forbes  turned,  showing  a  puz- 
zled face. 

"The  cat  Is  rather  near  the  chickens,"  Agatha  ex- 
plained. "If  you'll  excuse  me,  I'll  run  down  and 
drive  her  away."  She  started  at  a  pace  which 
would  have  been  reckless  for  rheumatic  knees,  re- 
called herself,  and  slowed  down  till  beyond  his  hear- 
ing. Then  she  stood  quite  still  and  stamped  her 
foot  upon  the  gravel  like  a  restive  horse,  till  she  felt 
better. 

When  she  returned,  flushed  but  calm,  the  letter 
was  completed  and  folded.     "Haven't  any  asbestos 


A  SOCIAL  SECRETARY  41 

envelopes,  have  you?"  questioned  Forbes,  trying  td 
make  a  joke  out  of  his  bit  of  sentiment.  "I've  made 
it  hot  stuff,  I  assure  you."  And  then  he  acknowl- 
edged that  an  ordinary  envelope  would  probably  re- 
tain his  ardent  effusion  without  bursting  into  flame, 
and  Agatha  wrote  the  name  she  already  hated,  eying 
each  letter  malevolently,  as  she  set  it  downj 

Miss  Julia  Studletj; 

Briercliff  Manor 

Briercliff,  New  York 

Howard  took  her  aside  that  night  to  thank  her  for 
relieving  him  of  an  obnoxious  task.  "It's  the  only 
part  of  the  work  I  mind,  writing  those  darned  let- 
ters.   Does  he  make  'em  long?" 

"A  great  deal  too  long,"  said  Agatha,  "and  I 
don't  blame  you  for  hating  that  job.    It's  rotten." 


CHAPTER  IV 


COMPLICATIONS 


FOR  a  week  Forbes'  spirits  were  fitful.  Morn- 
ing iafter  morning,  the  Rural  Free  Delivery 
brought  a  variety  of  offerings,  and  disappointment 
along  with  the  rest.  Each  afternoon  Howard  rode 
to  the  village,  and  though  he  never  returned  empty- 
handed,  he  might  as  well  have  done  so,  since  he 
failed  to  bring  the  right  letter.  Had  it  not  been 
for  Agatha,  Forbes'  depression  might  easily  have 
become  serious.  She  spent  with  him  all  the  time  she 
could  spare,  even  shelling  peas  and  whipping  cream 
upon  the  porch  within  arm's  length  of  his  chair. 
"Whatever  opinion  he  expressed,  she  promptly  dis- 
agreed. She  railed  at  modern  institutions.  She 
professed  unbounded  contempt  for  the  modern  girl. 
She  was  as  prickly  as  a  chestnut  burr,  as  puckery  as 
an  unripe  persimmon,  as  ruffling  as  a  January  gale. 
But  she  gained  her  point.  Forbes  did  not  mope. 
.    In  that  week  of  waiting,  she  wrote  at  his  dictation 

42 


COMPLICATIONS  43 

three  letters  to  Julia,  all  of  them  ardently  tender, 
and  quite  uncomplaining.  Though  he  confessed  to 
disappointment  over  not  hearing  from  her,  he  did 
not  seem  to  question  that  it  was  her  privilege  to  keepi 
him  waiting  her  pleasure.  His  humility  iaroused 
Agatha  to  a  fury  of  protest.  She  dotted  her  "i's" 
as  if  she  were  stabbing  the  paper,  and  crossed  her 
"t's"  with  a  sweep,  like  the  slash  of  a  knife.  Her 
valorous  instinct  to  champion  the  cause  of  the  under 
dog  had  never  been  so  constantly  in  evidence. 

The  table  at  Oak  Knoll  was  extremely  good  that 
week.  In  addition  to  distracting  Forbes'  thoughts 
by  continually  opposing  him,  Agatha  concentrated 
her  attention  on  making  him  eat.  The  fundamental 
common  sense,  underlying  like  granite  her  girlish 
caprices  and  audacity,  assured  her  that  an  aching 
heart  was  in  some  mysterious  fashion  relieved  by  a 
full  stomach.  The  price  Forbes  had  insisted  on 
paying  for  his  board  had  seemed  to  her  excessive, 
and  now  it  justified  her  in  trying  her  choicest  recipes. 
And  while  Forbes'  mood  would  have  made  it  easy 
for  him  to  be  quite  indifferent  to  what  was  set  before 
him,  thanks  to  these  tactics  he  ate  with  a  rather 
shamefaced  relish,  and  assured  Agatha  that  cooks 
of  her  sort  had  all  been  bom  before  the  Civil  War. 


44  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

At  the  end  of  a  trying  week,  the  looked- for  let- 
ter arrived.  Agatha  herself  took  it  from  the  mail 
box  at  the  end  of  the  long  drive,  and  she  eyed  it  as 
if  it  had  been  a  new  species  of  noxious  insect. 
Though  she  had  never  seen  Julia's  chirography,  she 
instantly  recognized  it,  even  without  the  aid  of  the 
post-mark.  The  letter  was  a  long  one,  evidently, 
for  it  had  called  for  double  postage. 

Agatha  walked  rapidly  back  to  the  house,  congrat- 
ulating herself  that  her  duties  would  be  less  onerous, 
at  least  till  the  stimulating  effect  of  this  letter  had 
worn  away.  She  beckoned  to  Howard,  who  was 
escorting  Forbes  about  the  grounds  on  his  morning 
constitutional,  and  despatched  him  on  some  unneces- 
sary errand,  while  she  took  his  place  at  Forbes'  side. 
"It's  come,"  she  said  briefly. 

Though  terse,  the  statement  was  quite  intelligible. 
Forbes  put  out  his  hand  eagerly,  and  she  saw  it  was 
trembling.  She  gave  him  the  letter,  conscious  of  a 
pity  that  had  a  mixture  of  contempt.  "Shall  I  read 
it  to  you?"  she  asked. 

"Why,  of  course.  What  am  I  thinking  of !  Shall 
we  go  to  the  porch  ?  It  seems  like  a  fat  fellow,  and 
I  don't  want  to  keep  you  standing." 


COMPLICATIONS  45 

Agatha  put  her  hand  through  his  arm  iand  steered 
him  in  the  direction  of  the  house.  She  noticed  the 
shadow  on  his  face  had  lifted.  A  Httle  color  had 
come  to  his  cheeks,  and  his  sensitive  mouth  seemed 
on  the  point  of  smiling.  She  felt  that  she  despised 
his  weakness  in  letting  himself  be  played  upon  by 
the  caprices  of  a  heartless  girl,  but  at  the  same  time, 
she  wanted  to  cry.  And  Forbes,  as  if  suspecting  her 
mood,  entertained  her  as  they  walked,  by  making 
fun  of  himself  and  of  the  rapture  he  could  not  hide. 

"What  do  you  think.  Miss  Kent?  Will  you  be 
equal  to  reading  this  to  me  every  day  till  the  next 
one  comes?" 

*'I  suppose,"  said  Agatha  with  resignation,  "that 
I  can  stand  it  if  you  can." 

"Oh,  there  won't  be  any  difficulty  as  far  as  I'm 
concerned.  In  fact,  if  my  eyes  were  normal,  I 
should  probably  read  it  several  times  a  day,  when- 
ever I  had  a  minute  to  spare.  But  I  haven't  the 
nerve  to  impose  on  you  to  that  extent." 

"Heaven  forbid!"  cried  Agatha  devoutly,  and  he 
broke  into  hilarious  laughter.  Agatha  reflected  that 
if  this  was  the  result  of  falling  in  love,  the  longer 
that  catastrophe  was  postponed,  the  better. 


46  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Forbes  had  been  quite  correct  in  saying  that  Ju- 
lia's letter  would  not  be  sentimental.  Howard  could 
have  read  it  without  the  slightest  embarrassment. 
She  apologized  casually  for  not  having  written  ear- 
lier, and  by  way  of  explanation  gave  a  list  of  her 
engagements  for  the  past  two  weeks,  a  device  which 
lent  her  letter  the  effect  of  the  society  column  in  a 
Sunday  newspaper,  and  accounted  for  the  double 
postage.  IThe  names  of  several  men  appeared  fre- 
quently in  her  record,  and  it  was  evident  that  Forbes 
was  not  the  only  one  of  his  sex  to  recognize  her 
charm.  She  even  quoted  one  or  two  compliments 
she  had  received,  as  if  certain  of  his  sympathetic 
pleasure  in  her  popularity,  and  his  expression  as 
he  listened  seemed  to  justify  her  confidence. 

On  the  last  page  of  the  fifteen,  Julia  detached  her- 
self from  this  fascinating  theme,  and  touched  on 
his  afifairs.  She  was  glad  he  was  better  and  she  was 
sure  he  must  enjoy  Oak  Knoll.  She  thought  those 
old  colonial  houses  simply  lovely  and  from  his  de- 
scription. Miss  Kent  was  a,  perfect  dear,  It  was 
good  of  him  to  write  so  often  for  she  was  always 
glad  to  hear,  and  she  was  very  cordially  his  friend, 
Julia. 

Agatha  laid  down  the  letter,  hardly  able  to  keep 


COMPLICATIONS  47 

back  the  scornful  comment  that  rushed  to  her  lips 
like  a  hemorrhage.  She  was  rather  in  hopes  Forbes 
would  say  it  himself.  The  shallowness  of  the  mis- 
sive, its  unabashed  vanity,  its  colossal  selfishness 
were  so  apparent  to  her  intelligence  that  she  half 
expected  to  have  Forbes  break  the  silence  by  con- 
gratulating himself  on  his  escape  from  marrying 
Julia  in  January.  With  this  thought  in  her  mind, 
the  fatuous  complacency  indicated  by  Forbes'  tone 
came  in  the  nature  of  a  shock. 

"She's  a  bit  irregular  as  a  correspondent,  but  when 
she  does  write,  you  see  it's  some  letter." 

Agatha  digested  this  in  silence. 

"You  can  gather  from  this,"  continued  the  un- 
conscious Mr.  Forbes,  "how  popular  she  is.  Wher- 
ever she  goes,  she's  the  center  o£  attention." 

Since  it  gave  him  pleasure  to  continue  in  this 
strain,  and  Agatha  was  not  really  hard-hearted,  shei 
composed  herself  to  listen  till  Howard's  return.  But 
the  sight  of  her  brother's  slender  figure  in  the  dis- 
tance was  peculiarly  welcome.  By  dint  of  vehement 
gestures,  she  induced  him  to  exchange  his  sauntering 
gait  for  a,  run,  and  so  shortened  her  ordeal  per- 
ceptibly. 

Howard  looked  from  the  frowning  girl  to  the 


48  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

smiling  young  man  with  perplexity.  For  several 
days  Forbes'  depression  had  weighed  on  the  boy's 
spirits.  And  now  Mr.  Forbes  was  grinning  like  a 
chessy  cat,  and  Aggie  looked  mad  enough  to  bite  a 
nail  in  two.  Howard  continued  to  stare  till  by  a 
sweeping  gesture  Agatha  indicated  her  wish  to  be 
left  to  herself.  For  some  time  Forbes  had  gone 
through  the  program  of  exercise  his  physician  had 
outlined  with  a  listlessness  which  proved  his  lack  of 
interest.  Now  as  Howard  suggested  continuing 
their  interrupted  walk,  he  clapped  the  boy  on  the 
shoulder,  seized  his  arm  and  the  two  went  off  laugh- 
ing. And  Agatha,  recalling  his  boast  that  he  was 
a  representative  of  a  generation  remarkable  for  its 
reasonableness,  smiled  sourly  and  significantly  after 
his  departing  figure,  and  asked  herself  whether  all 
men  were  fools,  or  only  the  nice  ones. 

In  her  valiant  effort  to  sustain  Forbes'  spirits, 
Agatha  had  for  some  days  neglected  her  household 
duties,  and  she  profited  by  his  temporary  accession 
of  cheerfulness  to  despatch  a  number  of  pressing 
duties,  aided  by  Phemie  Tidd,  the  daughter  of  a 
neighboring  farmer.  The  most  notable  character- 
istic of  Phemie  was  her  stupidity,  and  though 
Agatha  had  sometimes  found  this  trying,  in  the 


COMPLICATIONS  49 

present  emergency  she  derived  satisfaction  from  the 
certainty  that  nature  had  rendered  it  impossible  for 
Phemie  to  find  out  anything  on  her  own  initiative. 
Whether  she  was  positively  weak-minded  or  not 
was  a  question  on  which  the  community  did  not 
agree,  but  under  careful  supervision  she  iaccom- 
plished  rather  more  work  than  would  have  seemed 
possible,  considering  her  mental  equipment. 

As  there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  another 
letter  from  Julia,  Howard  was  excused  from  his 
afternoon  trips  to  the  village,  and  left  to  discharge 
his  secretarial  duties  unassisted.  For  this  reason 
Agatha  was  several  hours  late  In  learning  an  im- 
portant bit  of  news.  It  was  approaching  noon  on 
Friday  when  she  came  out  upon  the  porch  flushed 
and  w6ary,  after  a  strenuous  morning,  and  dropped 
into  a  chair  near  that  which  Forbes  was  occupying. 
Though  the  young  man  was  alone,  his  mood  was 
evidently  cheerful.  As  she  approached  him,  his 
smile  challenged  her  attention,  and  she  pondered 
with  frank  amazement  on  the  extraordinary  effect 
of  Julia's  Inane  letter. 

"It's  Miss  Kent,  isn't  it?"  Forbes  looked  boyishly 
pleased  over  having  guessed  correctly.  "I  am  be- 
ginning to  enjoy  some  of  the  perquisites  of  blind- 


50  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ness".  I  call  recognize  the  footsteps  of  all  of  you. 
Do  yoii  know  you  walk  with  wonderful  lightness  for 
a  'woman  of  your  age?" 

Agatha  immediately  resolved  to  begin  Wearing  a 
pair  of  Howard's  slippers,  which  could  be  kept  on 
only  by  dragging  her  feet. 

"I've  been  Wanting  to  see  you  all  the  morning/' 
continued  Forbes  light-heartedly.  "I've  great  news 
for  you.    .We're  going  to  have  company."- 

"Company!"  Had  Forbes*  sense  of  Hearing 
reached  the  stage  of  acuteness  he  fondly  imagined, 
he  would  have  recognized  instantly  a  note  of  wild- 
ness  in  Agatha's  exclamation, 

"Had  a  letter  this  morning  from  a  pal  of  mine, 
fellow  I  knew  in  college.  He's  coming  to-morrow 
to  spend  Sunday  with  me." 

"To  spend  Sunday!"  Even  though  Forbes  was 
unable  to  perceive  the  frozen  horror  of  Agatha's 
countenance,  her  appalled  tone  convinced  him  that 
something  was  wrong.  His  smile  gave  way  to  an 
expression  of  anxiety. 

"It  won't  inconvenience  you  to  put  him  up,  will 
it.  Miss  Kent?" 

Agatha  found  herself  unable  to  reply.    Her  cas- 


complications:  5X 


tie  in  tHe  aif  was  about  to  fopple.*'  A  friend  of 
Forbes  was  coming,  and  be  would  be  as  eyes  to  the 
blind.  Througb  him  Forbes  would  learn  that  the 
House  was  in  need  of  painting  and  shingling  and 
papering,  that  the  furniture  was  in  all  stages  of  di- 
lapidation, and  that  she  herself  "was  not  an  elderly 
lady  iwitH  a,  motherly  interest  in  youth,  but  a  mere 
girl  yvith.  a  surprising  facility  in  falsehood.  And 
.while  these  agonized  forebodings  flitted  through  her 
brain,  Forbes  was  offering  dismayed  apologies. 

"I  beg  your  pardon  a  thousand  times.  I  should 
have  realized —  Of  course,  this  isn't  a  boarding- 
Kouse,  but  the  fact  that  you  advertised  for  board- 
ers, misled  me,  don't  you  see?  If  Warren's  coming 
is  going  to  put  you  out  at  all,  I'll  have  Howard  tele- 
graph hint  at  once." 

Agatha  came  to  herself.  There  was  risk",  of 
course,  in  granting  permission  for  his  friend's  visit, 
yef  anything  was  better,  even  discovery,  than  that 
she  should  appear  inhospitable.  Her  cheeks  grew 
hot  as  she  recalled  his  generosity  and  saw  him  con- 
fused and  apologetic  over  having  asked  a  friend  to 
solace  his  loneliness  for  a  week-end. 

"Indeed  you  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  she 


52  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

said  with  authority.  "You  didn't  understand  me. 
I'm  only  sorry  not  to  meet  your  friend.  I  expect 
to  be  away  over  Sunday." 

"Oh,  but  that's  bad.  I  particularly  wanted  War- 
ren to  see  you.  We  might  telegraph  him  to  make 
it  Sunday  week." 

Agatha  vetoed  the  suggestion.  It  was  better  that 
Mr.  Warren  should  come  as  he  had  planned.  "And 
besides,"  she  added  with  swift  return  of  her  normal 
audacity,  "if  he  is  here  you  won't  miss  me  so  much." 

"I  shall  miss  you  under  any  and  all  circumstances, 
dear  lady."  ,  Forbes'  air  of  animation  had  returned, 
and  it  was  so  great  a  relief  to  see  him  smiling  again, 
that  she  resolutely  shut  her  eyes  to  the  pitfalls  ahead. 

"I  shall  get  a  girl  from  the  neighborhood  to  do 
the  cooking,"  explained  Agatha.  "And  Miss  Finch 
will  mother  you  all  in  my  place." 

"But  not  in  your  way."  Forbes  had  a  confused 
but  unflattering  impression  of  Miss  Finch,  due  to 
the  fact  that  she  never  dared  trust  herself  to  con- 
verse with  him  for  more  than  a  minute  at  a  time, 
for  fear  of  making  some  unfortunate  revelation. 
"And  I'm  sorry,"  he  ended  regretfully,  "that  War- 
ren's not  to  taste  your  cooking." 

"Oh,  Hephzibah  is  exactly  as  good.  I  trained  her." 


COMPLICATIONS  53 

"Good  heavens !  You  don't  mean  there's  a  living 
woman  with  a  name  like  that."- 

**0h,  do  you  think  Hephzibah  an  odd  name?  It 
wasn't  uncommon  when  I  was  a  girl."  Agatha  felt 
that  she  had  taken  leave  of  reason  as  well  as  of 
principle.  "Hephzibah  Diggs,"  she  repeated  thought- 
fully. "I  suppose  it  would  have  rather  a  quaint 
sound  to  any  one  not  used  to  it." 

"It's  a  name  for  the  vaudeville  stage,"  said  Mr. 
Forbes  with  conviction.  He  returned  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Agatha's  other  substitute.  "I  suppose  War- 
ren will  have  a  chance  to  get  more  of  an  impres- 
sion of  Miss  Finch  than  I  have  succeeded  in  doing, 
for  he'll  have  his  eyes  to  help  him  out.  All  I  have 
been  able  to  discover  is  that  she  never  finishes  her 
sentences." 

"She's  shy  with  men,  poor  girl,"  said  Agatha, 
and  then  as  he  looked  puzzled,  "Of  course  she  seems 
quite  elderly  to  you,  but  to  me  she's  only  a  girl." 

Forbes  whistled  softly,  shaking  his  head.  "A 
blind  man  would  credit  you  with  immortal  youth, 
and  convict  her  of  never  having  been  less  than  mid- 
dle-aged. I  begin  to  believe  that  eyesight  is  mis- 
leading." 

Agatha  broke  away  from  him  before  her  mood 


54  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

of  repreliensible  recklessness  should  have  implicated 
her  still  further.  Then  in  the  seclusion  of  her  own 
room,  she  Wept.  "It's  bad  enough  to  stretch  the 
truth  when  I  positively  can't  help  it,"  she  told  her- 
self, "but  this  morning  I  simply  wallowed  in  false- 
hood. And  now  I  must  live  up  to  Hephzibah  Diggs. 
Why  couldn't  I  have  called  her  Mamie  Thompson? 
It's  all  the  fault  of  that  atrocious  Warren  person, 
and  I  wish  something  would  happen  to  him  on  the 
way  down.  I  suppose  it's  too  much  to  hope  for  a 
railway  accident,  with  only  one  passenger  killed, 
but  that  would  serve  him  exactly  right." 

Agatha's  courage  did  not  revive  until  she  under- 
took to  prepare  Miss  Finch  for  the  responsibilities 
which  would  devolve  upon  her  in  the  absence  of  the 
mistress  of  the  house.  Her  pale  eyes  became  unnat- 
urally prominent  as  Agatha  explained. 

"Agatha,  I  can't.  I'd  go  through  fire  and  watei^ 
for  you,  but  I  can't  have  a  lie  on  my  conscience. 
At  my  age  I've  got  to  prepare  for  death,  any  day, 
and  I  can't  be  loading  my  soul  down  with  mortal 
sin." 

"Oh,  Fritz,  don't  be  so  foolish.  It's  not  neces- 
sary to  lie."  Agatha's  conscience  gave  a  twinge 
like  an  uneasy  tooth,  as  she  recalled  her  entirely 


COMPLICATIONS  55 

gratuitous  inventions  of  the  morning.  "All  you 
have  to  do  is  to  keep  from  telling  the  truth." 

"You  can  do  it  all  right,  you're  so  quick-witted, 
but  I  have  to  have  time." 

Agatha  had  an  inspiration.  "If  he  says  anything 
you  don't  know  how  to  answer,  pretend  you're  hard 
of  hearing.  And  make  him  keep  repeating  it  over 
till  he  gets  tired,  or  you've  thought  of  something 
to  say." 

Miss  Finch  showed  no  inclination  to  rejoice  over 
this  simple  solution  of  her  difficulty.  Her  thin  nose 
reddened  as  abruptly  as  if  it  had  been  pinched,  and 
her  eyes  filled. 

"I  know  I'm  going  to  make  a  mess  of  things. 
I've  felt  from  the  start  that  no  good  could  come  of 
cheating  a  blind  man.  And  after  you  go  to-mor- 
row— '* 

"But  I'm  not  really  going,  Fritz.  Somebody  must 
do  the  cooking.  I  shall  be  in  the  kitchen,  and  my 
name  will  be  Hephzibah  Diggs.'* 

"Hephzibah  Diggs!"  Miss  Finch  repeated,  ap- 
palled.   "You're  going  to  be  somebody  else  ?" 

"Only  till  Mr.  Warren  gets  out  of  the  house." 

"And  you  picked  out  that  name  yourself,  just  for 
the  fun  of  it?" 


56  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Agatha  reddened  under  her  old  friend's  accusing 
gaze.  "I  had  to  have  some  name,"  she  protested 
weakly. 

"You  didn't  have  to  have  that.  It  almost  looks  to 
me  as  if  you  were  getting  where  you  took  pleasure 
in  deception." 

As  this  only  echoed  Agatha's  self-accusation,  she 
exclaimed,  "The  idea!"  with  an  air  of  indignant 
protest. 

"It  keeps  me  awake  nights,"  Miss  Finch  continued 
mournfully,  "the  way  things  are  in  this  house.  It 
seems  as  if  there  might  be  an  explosion  any  min- 
ute. You're  young  and  light-hearted,  Agatha,  and 
you  can't  understand  my  feelings." 

"Can't  I,  though,"  mused  Agatha,  as  her  old 
friend  tottered  toward  the  house.  "And  what's 
more,  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  the  explosion  came  off 
in  just  about  twenty-four  hours." 


CHAPTER  V 


COMPANY  MANNERS 


A  GATHA  took  leave  of  Forbes  about  two  hours 
/  \  before  Warren's  train  was  due.  She  had 
worked  valiantly  most  of  the  morning  to  render  the 
room  he  was  to  occupy  approximately  presentable. 
She  had  patched  the  worst  places  in  the  carpet,  pro- 
vided two  chairs  with  seats  of  cretonne,  and  brought 
all  the  pictures  from  her  own  quarters  to  help  dis- 
guise the  defaced  condition  of  the  guest-room  walls. 
Her  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  result,  rather 
than  her  labors,  had  tired  her,  and  she  had  no  heart 
for  making  the  most  of  the  dramatic  possibilities  of 
the  farewell.  In  her  faded  print  dress,  with  a  dust- 
ing cap  drooping  limply  over  one  ear,  she  presented 
herself  on  the  porch,  hastily  drawing  on  a  kid  glove, 
her  sole  make-up  for  her  role. 

"Well,  good-by,  Mr.  Forbes.    Fm  going  now." 
Forbes  took  her  gloved  hand  in  both  his.     "I 
57 


58  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

hope  you'll  have  a  delightful  week-end,"  he  said  cor- 
dially.   "Nobody  deserves  it  more." 

"I'm  not  anxious  to  get  my  deserts,"  Agatha  as- 
sured him  with  truth,  and  then  to  head  off  incon- 
venient questionings,  "Give  my  apologies  to  Mr. 
Warren,  and  say  that  if  it  had  been  possible  I  would 
have  been  here  to  receive  him  myself.  But  I  am 
sure  that  Miss  Finch  and  Hephzibah  between  them 
will  make  you  perfectly  comfortable." 

She  released  her  hand  and  pulling  off  her  glove 
as  she  went,  betook  herself  to  the  kitchen,  where 
Phemie  was  still  washing  the  dishes  from  the  mid- 
day meal.  Left  to  herself,  Phemie  could  be  trusted 
to  stretch  that  uninspiring  task  over  the  better  part 
of  the  afternoon.  Thanks  to  Agatha's  presence,  the 
splashing  at  once  became  animated. 

Deprived  of  the  stimulating  companionship  of 
his  elderly  hostess,  Forbes  decided  to  accompany 
Howard  to  the  station.  From  the  kitchen  window 
Agatha  watched  the  carryall  pass  and  recalled  the 
sensations  with  which  she  had  first  seen  Forbes  ap- 
proaching in  the  same  shabby  vehicle.  Perhaps  her 
present  apprehensions  would  prove  as  groundless  as 
those.  Agatha  whistled  a  martial  tune,  as  she  beat 
upther  cake,  and  sought  diversion  in  addressing 


COMPANY  MANNERS  59 

Phemie  with  that  disregard  of  grammatical  prece- 
dent to  be  expected  from  a  girl  named  Hephzibah 
Piggs, 

The  usual  number  of  loungers  was  iii  evidence  at 
the  Bridgewater  station,  and  the  approach  of  How- 
ard and  his  passenger  was  the  signal  for  animated 
comment.  The  rum.ors  Agatha  had  been  at  such 
pains  to  disseminate  had  taken  on  new  and  startling 
details  as  the  village  gossips  rolled  them  under  their 
tongues.  It  was  stated  on  indisputable  authority 
that  Forbes  had  been  the  victim  of  sunstroke  dur- 
ing his  South  American  sojourn,  and  that  this  had 
left  him  blind  and  with  his  mind  permanently  af- 
fected. Another  equally  authoritative  version  pic- 
tured him  the  slave  of  an  appetite  for  liquor  and 
accounted  for  his  presence  at  Oak  Knoll  by  the  fact 
that  the  village  was  "bone  dry."  All  the  rumors 
agreed,  however,  in  emphasizing  Forbes'  aversion 
to  society,  and  though  Howard  was  surrounded 
and  questioned  as  soon  as  he  stepped  on  the  plat- 
form, it  was  not  till  the  train  was  in  sight  that  any 
one  ventured  to  approach  the  vehicle  where  Forbes 
sat  alone. 

Howard,  absorbed  in  the  responsibilities  connected 


60  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

with  the  recognition  of  Mr.  Warren,  failed  to  notice 
the  intrusion  on  Forbes'  privacy,  but  a  number  of 
other  people  were  more  observant.  For  once  the 
arrival  of  the  four  o'clock  express  had  a  rival  in  the 
public  interest.  The  unconscious  Forbes  was  the 
target  for  a  dozen  pair  of  curious  eyes,  as  Jim  Doo- 
little  slouched  toward  him. 

Jim  paused  by  the  carryall  and  looked  Forbes  over 
with  the  agreeable  certainty  that  he  could  make  his 
scrutiny  as  prolonged  and  insolent  as  he  pleased, 
without  being  called  to  account.  Then  as  the  noise 
of  the  approaching  train  warned  him  to  make  the 
most  of  his  conversational  opportunities,  he  ven- 
tured a  remark:  "How  do  you  find  yourself  to- 
day?" 

Forbes'  face  showed  no  change  of  expression. 
Though  Jim's  nasal  tones  reached  him  distinctly,  it 
did  not  occur  to  him  that  he  was  the  object  of  so- 
licitude. Jim  waited  vainly  for  a  reply,  and  then, 
spurred  to  persistence  by  his  grinning  audience,  he 
tried  again,  this  time  lifting  his  voice  to  a  bellow,  as 
if  Forbes  were  deaf  as  well  as  blind.  "Air  they 
treatin'  you  right  out  to  Kent's  ?" 

Forbes  turned  with  a  start.  "Beg  pardon!  I 
didn't  know  you  were  speaking  to  me." 


COMPANY  MANNERS  61 

".You're  stayin'  out  to  Kent's  ain't  you,  for  the 
summer?    Folks  say  you  came  for  your  health." 

**Yes."  Forbes  spoke  stiffly,  sharing  the  impres- 
sion of  most  men  who  have  always  been  robust,  that 
illness  is  a  disgrace.  "The  doctors  advised  a  change 
of  air." 

"And  does  Aggie  Kent  take  good  care  of  you?" 

The  formality  of  Mr.  Forbes'  manner  became 
more  pronounced.  "Miss  Kent,"  he  replied,  with 
marked  emphasis  on  the  prefix,  "has  made  me  most 
comfortable." 

"Glad  to  hear  it,  glad  to  hear  it,"  Mr.  Doolittle 
assured  him  affably.  "Seems  as  if  takin'  boarders 
was  pretty  risky  for  anybody  of  her  age." 

Forbes'  irritation  deepened.  "Miss  Kent  is  per- 
fectly capable  and  extremely  vigorous.  I  believe 
she  could  tire  me  out." 

"Yes,  I  shouldn't  wonder,"  Jim  agreed,  rather  to 
Forbes'  annoyance.  "And  I  guess  Zaida  Finch 
steadies  her  down  when  there's  a  chance  of  her 
doin'  something  flighty." 

As  this  suggested  to  Forbes  the  weakening  of  his 
hostess'  intellect  through  age,  necessitating  the 
guardianship  of  Miss  Finch,  he  contented  himself 
by  a  disdainful  silence.    The  approach  of  Howard 


62  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

with  a  stranger  in  tow  checked  further  conversa- 
tional angling  on  Jim's  part.  He  tore  himself  away 
with  a  genial,  "See  you  later,"  to  which  Forbes  re- 
sponded by  a  non-committal  grunt.  But  he  forgot 
his  annoyance  as  Warren  shouted  his  name,  coupled 
>vith  those  abusive  epithets  with  which  his  sex  are 
>vont  to  disguise  sentiment  toward  one  another. 

Mr.  Ridgeley  Warren  took  an  unaffected  pleasure 
in  his  own  society,  which  as  a  rule  proved  conta- 
gious. He  was  an  inveterate  talker,  noisy,  slangy, 
in  every  way  Forbes'  antithesis.  Warren  admired 
Forbes'  dignity,  and  Forbes  found  diversion  in 
Warren's  flow  of  spirits.  And  beneath  this  mutual 
admiration  was  one  of  those  steadfast  affections 
which  springing  up  between  two  men  is  more  lasting, 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  than  the  love  between  men 
and  women. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  staid  bays  knew  the  way 
home,  for  though  Howard  sat  with  the  lines  in  his 
hands,  he  left  to  the  horses  all  responsibility  for 
keeping  to  the  road,  and  turning  at  the  right  cross- 
ing. Warren  told  stories  steadily  all  the  way,  and 
roared  his  appreciation  of  each.  Howard  laughed 
too,  and  Forbes  shared  their  amusement,  though  less 


COMPANY  MANNERS  6^ 

boisterously.  Thougli  the  horses  moved  with  de- 
liberation, the  five-mile  drive  seemed  short. 

As  they  turned  up  the  driveway  at  Oak  Knoll, 
Forbes  said  with  the  pride  of  a  proprietor,  "Fine 
old  place,  isn't  it?" 

"You  bet,"  agreed  Warren,  his  eyes  upon  one  of 
the  splendid  oaks  which  had  given  the  place  its 
name.  Then  beyond,  he  caught  sight  of  the  house, 
and  he  leaned  forward  for  a  better  look.  "House 
been  standing  for  some  time,  from  appearances." 

"Built  by  Miss  Kent's  grandfather,"  Forbes  re- 
plied boastfully,  "and  she's  well  on  to  seventy.  I 
imagine  the  house  is  a  hundred  years  old." 

Warren,  staring  at  the  sagging  roof  of  the  old 
building,  looked  as  if  he  could  easily  believe  it,  but 
unaware  of  his  lack  of  enthusiasm,  Forbes  con- 
tinued: "I'm  sorry  you're  not  going  to  see  Miss 
Kent,  as  she's  away  for  over  Sunday.  You'd  fall 
in  love  with  her  on  sight." 

Warren  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "Seventeen  is 
nearer  my  style  than  seventy.  Can't  you  trot  out 
some  pretty  girls  for  me  to  fall  in  love  with  ?" 

"I'm  afraid  Miss  Finch  is  all  we  can  offer  you  in 
the  way  of  feminine  society,  old  man,  and  I've  found 


64  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

her  'uncertain,  coy  and  hard  to  please/  But  you  al- 
ways had  a  way  with  the  ladies.  You  might  do  bet- 
ter/* 

The  carriage  stopped  at  the  door.  Howard 
alighted  and  possessed  himself  of  the  visitor's  suit- 
case. Miss  Finch,  who  from  the  window  of  the 
living-room  had  watched  their  leisurely  progress 
along  the  driveway,  appeared  on  the  porch,  prepared 
to  do  her  duty  as  hostess  if  it  killed  her.  Miss 
Finch's  nose  was  red  and  her  lips  were  blue.  De- 
spite the  warmth  of  the  mild  summer  day,  her  teeth 
chattered. 

Warren's  hilarious  air  had  disappeared  with  his 
first  view  of  the  dilapidated  country  house  where 
his  friend  was  spending  the  summer.  His  introduc- 
tion to  Miss  Finch  completed  his  undoing.  He 
stared  at  the  tremulous  little  figure  in  silent  stupe- 
faction. What  on  earth  was  Forbes  doing  in  this 
tumbledown  building  with  two  old  women  for  com- 
pany? And  the  extraordinary  part  was  that  Forbes 
seemed  contented  with  his  quarters.  Warren 
ascended  the  stairs  to  his  room,  trying  to  make  up 
his  mind  how  to  handle  the  situation.  He  had  an 
uneasy  feeling  that  his  friend  was  being  imposed  on. 

The  appearance  of  his  quarters  confirmed  his 


COMPANY  MANNERS  65 

worst  apprehensions.  Warren  looked  around  him, 
shook  his  head,  and  rejoined  Forbes  on  the  porch, 
feeling  the  necessity  of  immediate  action.  But 
Forbes'  air  of  tranquillity  made  him  hesitate.  After 
all,  if  Forbes  himself  were  satisfied,  that  was  the 
main  thing. 

He  broached  the  topic  cautiously.  "I  judge  your 
friend,  Miss  Kent,  isn't  what  you'd  call  opulent." 

"Hardly,  or  I  shouldn't  be  here.  She  advertised 
for  boarders.  Some  one  was  reading  me  a  few  of 
the  promising  ads  from  the  Onlooker,  and  I  recog- 
nized her  name.  You  see  I  visited  her  once  when  I 
was  a  boy,  and  I've  always  remembered  the  beauty 
of  the  place." 

"Trees  are  fine,"  agreed  Warren  with  reserve. 
"But  the  buildings  all  seem  rather  seedy.  Need 
paint  badly." 

"Do  they?"  Forbes  spoke  indifferently.  "Paint 
is  the  least  of  my  troubles.'* 

"I  suppose  so.  But  say,  Forbes,  are  you  sure  it's 
a  good  thing  for  you  to  be  cooped  up  here  all  sum- 
mer with  two  old  hens?" 

He  had  fancied  he  was  being  tactful,  but  to  his 
surprise  Forbes  seemed  irritated. 

"You  haven't  seen  Miss  Kent.    If  you  had,  you'd 


66  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

know  that  she's  a  regular  beef,  iron  and  wine  com- 
bination/* 

"If- she's  like  Miss  Finch,"  Warren  was  beginning, 
when  Forbes  interrupted  him  with  such  spontaneous 
laughter  that  he  dropped  his  sentence  unfinished. 

"She's  about  as  much  like  Miss  Finch  as  a  collie 
pup  is  like  those  Teddy  bears  the  kids  lug  around. 
She's  an  old  lady  in  years,  but  otherwise  she's  as 
young  as  you  or  I.  She's  so  full  of  vitality  that  you 
can't  be  near  her  ten  minutes  without  feeling  braced 
up.    She's  hke  a  mountain  breeze." 

"Pity  a  woman  of  that  sort  didn't  marry,"  com- 
mented Warren  dryly. 

"That's  what  my  old  dad  thought.  Miss  Kent 
was  his  first  love,  and  he  stayed  single  on  her  ac- 
count till  he  was  well  on  to  forty." 

"Maybe  that's  why  you're  ace  high  with  the  old 
lady.  She's  trying  to  make  up  to  the  son  for  turn- 
ing down  the  father." 

"Can't  say,  I'm  sure.  I  imagine  it's  her  disposi- 
tion to  be  kind  to  the  crippled  and  disabled  and  gen- 
erally good-for-nothing." 

His  tone  was  suddenly  bitter,  and  Warren's  look 
sharpened.  "How's  Julia  ?"  he  asked  with  seeming 
irrelevance. 


COMPANY  MANNERS  67 

"Julia's  well  and  enjoying  herself."  Forbes'  man- 
ner seemed  to  defy  his  friend  to  criticize,  and  War- 
ren, who  would  have  enjoyed  nothing  better  than  ex- 
pressing his  opinion  of  Julia,  changed  the  subject 
abruptly.  If  Forbes  liked  this  gone-to-sced  place 
and  the  society  of  old  women  it  was  no  concern  of 
his.  Queer  how  differently  men  were  affected  when 
their  love-affairs  went  wrong.  Some  took  to  drink 
and  some  were  women-haters.  With  Forbes  it  had 
developed  a  craving  for  the  atmosphere  of  an  Old 
Ladies'  Home.    Every  man  to  his  taste. 

Supper  partly  dissipated  Warren's  concern.  The 
dining-room  was  as  rusty  as  the  rest  of  the  house. 
Miss  Finch  at  the  head  of  the  table  looked  tinier 
and  more  frightened  than  ever.  The  girl  who 
waited  on  the  table  was,  without  exception,  Warren 
decided,  the  most  unattractive  specimen  of  youthful 
femininity  he  had  ever  come  across.  But  the  sup- 
per was  unique.  As  Warren  ate,  his  high  spirits 
returned.  Old  Forbes  knew  what  he  was  about, 
after  all.  A  homely  waitress  need  not  trouble  a 
blind  man.  Warren  was  almost  inclined  to  believe 
that  he  himself  could  put  up  with  the  sight  of 
Phemie's  vacant  face  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  if  he 
could  be  sure  of  three  such  meals  every  day. 


68  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

In  the  relief  from  his  anxiety  regarding  Forbes, 
Warren  turned  his  attention  to  Miss  Finch.  She 
looked  so  helpless  over  all  his  jokes,  that  he  realized 
the  necessity  of  strict  literalness  in  dealing  with  her. 
"I  suppose  you've  known  Miss  Kent  for  a  long 
time,"  he  said  by  way  of  beginning. 

Miss  Finch  paled  over  the  shock  of  being  ad- 
dressed, but  answered  with  unusual  promptness, 
"Yes,  ever  since  she  was  a  teething  baby." 

In  an  instant  she  knew  what  she  had  done  even 
before  Forbes,  turning  a  perplexed  face  in  her  direc- 
tion, asked,  "But  you're  the  younger  of  the  two,  are 
you  not  ?" 

Miss  Finch  opened  her  mouth  like  a  newly-landed 
fish,  and  closed  it  again  without  speaking.  The  device 
Agatha  had  suggested  and  which  she  had  mentally 
dismissed  as  "acting  a  lie,"  thrust  itself  upon  her 
recollection,  and  she  clutched  it  with  the  avidity  of 
the  desperate.  Putting  her  hand  to  her  ear  with  the 
immemorial  gesture  of  the  deaf,  she  quavered, 
"What  did  you  say?" 

"I  asked  if  you  weren't  the  younger  of  the  two. 
Miss  Kent  said  to  me  the  other  day  that  she  thought 
of  you  as  a  mere  girl." 

"I  didn't  quite  catch  what  you  said,"  faltered  Miss 


COMPANY  MANNERS  69 

Finch,  but  before  Forbes  could  again  repeat  his  in- 
quiry, Phemie  created  a  diversion.  She  had  taken 
the  water  pitcher  to  refill  it,  and  as  she  advanced  to 
the  kitchen  door,  her  tray  extended  before  her,  she 
looked  back.  It  was  characteristic  of  Phemie  to 
walk  in  one  direction  and  look  in  another.  Agatha 
was  beginning  to  congratulate  herself  on  having  at 
last  eradicated  this  tendency,  but  she  had  not  reck- 
oned on  the  effect  of  a  handsome  and  lively  young 
man  on  Phemie's  susceptible  temperament.  As  she 
turned  for  another  look  at  Warren,  Phemie's  tray 
came  into  collision  with  the  door  and  the  pitcher, 
overturning,  broke  in  fragments. 

As  was  inevitable,  every  one  turned  to  look.  War- 
ren, who  was  in  range  of  the  door,  saw  it  open, 
apparently  of  its  own  accord.  A  figure  stood  in  the 
passageway,  fairly  dazzling  in  its  effect  after  the 
gray  tints  of  Miss  Finch,  the  subdued  tan  and  tow 
of  Phemie.  His  eyes  drank  in  the  colorful  appari- 
tion for  some  ten  seconds  and  then  a  rounded  arm 
closed  the  door.  Phemie  picked  up  the  fragments 
of  the  broken  pitcher,  and  tearfully  withdrew. 

Miss  Finch  sat  through  the  remainder  of  the  meal 
without  tasting  a  morsel,  waiting  in  an  agony  of  ap- 
prehension for  Forbes  to  ask  her  again  whether  she 


70  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

was  older  or  younger  than  Miss  Kent.  She  might 
have  spared  her  anxiety,  for  Warren's  flow  of  con- 
versation gave  no  chance  for  settling  such  minor 
perplexities.  Warren  was  one  of  the  men  to  whom 
the  propinquity  of  a  pretty  woman  is  as  stimulating 
as  champagne.  He  did  not  think  it  probable  that 
the  apparition  in  the  kitchen  could  hear  his  witti- 
cisms, but  he  assumed  that  she  must  realize  who  was 
responsible  for  the  hilarity  at  the  supper  table.  And 
even  without  this  confidence,  he  would  probably  have 
talked  and  jested  in  the  same  breezy  fashion,  this 
form  of  responsiveness  to  beauty  being  instinctive 
with  him  rather  than  deliberate. 

The  moment  he  was  alone  with  Forbes,  Warren 
broached  the  subject  engrossing  his  thoughts.  "Bur- 
ton, you  have  my  sympathy.  You  don't  know  what 
you're  missing.  Under  this  roof  there's  as  pretty  a 
bit  of  flesh  and  blood  as  ever  wore  petticoats.  Take 
it  from  me,  she's  a  peach." 

"Phemie?"  exclaimed  Forbes.     "The  waitress?" 

Warren's  derisive  yell  effectually  settled  Phemie's 

claims.    "Gosh,  no !    That  girl  would  stop  a  clock. 

This  one  was  out  in  the  kitchen,  but  I  could  see  her 

peeking  through  after  the  smash-up." 


COMPANY  MANNERS  71 

*'0h,  yes,"  exclaimed  Forbes,  recollecting.  "I 
know.    That's  Hephzibah." 

Warren  positively  staggered.  "Lord,  forbid,"  he 
ejaculated  piously,  "she  can't  be." 

"She  is,  though,  Hephzibah  Diggs." 

Again  Warren's  stentorian  tones  shattered  the 
peace  of  the  night.  He  used  his  first  spare  breath  in 
announcing  his  intention  to  get  a  nearer  view  and  see 
if  a  girl  named  Hephzibah  Diggs  could  possibly  be 
the  beauty  she  had  seemed.  The  announcement  of 
this  intention  rendered  Forbes  uneasy. 

"You  let  Hephzibah  alone,"  he  warned  his  friend. 
**These  self-respecting  country  girls  think  themselves 
as  good  as  anybody — they  are  as  good  as  anybody. 
And  I'm  responsible  to  Miss  Kent  for  your  beha- 
vior." 

"I  don't  want  anything  of  the  girl  except  to  see 
her  by  daylight.  She's  not  too  self-respecting  for 
that,  is  she?"  And  then  seeing  that  Forbes  was 
really  annoyed,  Warren  dropped  the  subject  of 
Hephzibah,  though  without  the  least  alteration  in 
his  intentions. 

It  did  not  prove  so  easy  as  he  had  anticipated  to 
get  a  satisfactory  view  of  the  girl  whose   face, 


72  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

glimpsed  in  the  half-light  of  the  previous  evening, 
had  seemed  so  alluring.  At  breakfast  time  Phemie 
met  with  no  accident,  and  though  Warren  watched 
the  swinging  door  that  led  to  the  kitchen  with  the 
alertness  of  a  cat  at  a  rat  hole,  it  swung  open  and 
shut  without  revealing  anything  more  seductive  than 
a  corner  of  the  kitchen  table.  The  day  was  warm, 
but  the  outside  kitchen  door  remained  obstinately 
closed,  and  on  the  rare  occasions  when  it  opened,  it 
was  Phemie  who  emerged. 

Warren  was  not  a  man  who  readily  surrendered. 
Indeed,  difficulties  were  likely  to  stiffen  a  careless 
desire  into  adamantine  resolution.  When  his  watch 
showed  noon  and  Hephzibah  Diggs  continued  in- 
visible, he  decided  it  was  time  to  take  matters  into 
his  own  hands.  He  rose  from  his  chair  on  the  porch 
stretching  his  sinewy  length  lazily.  "1  believe  Pll 
walk  about  a  bit,"  he  said,  "and  work  up  an  appetite 
for  dinner.  With  meals  like  these,  a  man  wants  to 
be  able  to  do  himself  full  justice  every  time  he  sits 
down  to  the  table." 

"You  ought  to  try  Miss  Kent's  cooking,"  boasted 
Forbes.  "She  trained  this  girl,  and  she  does  well, 
but  she's  not  a  patch  on  her  teacher." 

Warren's  stroll  took  him  no  farther  than  the 


COMPANY  MANNERS  73 

kitchen  door.  He  ascended  the  steps  jauntily  and 
knocked.  After  waiting  vainly  for  an  invitation  to 
enter,  he  decided  to  assume  that  it  had  been  spoken, 
and  pushing  the  door  ajar,  he  walked  in. 

Over  in  the  corner  Phemie  was  chopping  some- 
thing in  a  wooden  bowl,  but  in  spite  of  the  insistent 
tapping  of  the  knife  upon  the  wood,  he  was  hardly 
conscious  of  her  existence.  A  girl  stood  at  the  table 
rolling  out  biscuit,  and  her  sleeve  turned  back  al- 
most to  the  shoulders,  revealed  a  faultless  arm, 
white  and  rounded  and  tapering  to  the  finger-tips. 
She  turned  her  head  at  his  step  and  he  thrilled  with 
amazed  pleasure.  His  glimpse  of  the  previous  eve- 
ning had  not  been  misleading.  Indeed  his  impression 
had  fallen  short  of  the  actuality.  He  was  looking  at 
the  handsomest  young  woman  he  had  ever  seen. 

Mr.  Ridgeley  Warren  did  not  lack  self-confidence. 
His  momentary  silence  was  due  to  wondering  ad- 
miration, not  to  any  doubt  of  his  power  to  please. 
With  smiling  self-possession  he  advanced  into  the 
room.  In  her  corner  Phemie  chopped  on  steadily, 
without  removing  her  fascinated  eyes  from  his  face. 
Hephzibah — it  was  preposterous  that  this  radiant 
creature  should  be  encumbered  with  such  a  name — - 
continued  to  roll  biscuit. 


74  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"You  seem  busy  here,"  remarked  Warren  in  his 
most  ingratiating  manner.  "Don't  you  want  an  as- 
sistant?'* 

He  was  sorry  to  discover  that  the  voice  of  Heph- 
zibah  Diggs  was  not  in  accord  with  her  bodily  per- 
fection. She  talked  through  her  nose  and  that  fact 
impressed  him  so  painfully  he  almost  lost  the  force 
of  her  reply,  "Guess  me  and  Phemie  kin  manage." 

"I'm  quite  a  little  cook  myself,"  continued  War- 
ren, saddened  but  not  discouraged.  "In  my  last 
place  they  said  my  parboiled  cauliflower  beat  any- 
thing they  had  ever  tasted.  And  my  string-bean 
parfait  has  become  popular  in  the  best  New  York 
restaurants." 

Phemie's  delighted  gasp  was  his  sole  applause. 
Hephzibah  Diggs  gave  her  attention  to  her  biscuits. 

Warren  seated  himself  on  one  corner  of  the  im- 
maculate table  and  began  to  talk  with  his  custom- 
ary volubility.  His  remarks  took  the  form  he 
imagined  would  please  a  country  farmer's  daughter, 
lacking  the  rudiments  of  education.  He  soon  real- 
ized, and  with  some  irritation,  that  he  was  making 
an  impression  on  the  wrong  girl.  Phemie  chortled 
joyfully  over  her  chopping.  Hephzibah  Diggs  lis- 
tened as  if  it  were  against  her  principles  to  smile. 


COMPANY  MANNERS  75 

She  brought  three  eggs  from  the  pantry  presently 
and  broke  them  in  a  workmanHke  manner,  whites  in 
one  bowl,  and  yolks  in  another.  "Got  to  have  three 
more,"  she  said  to  Phemie  in  that  unpleasant  nasal 
voice  which  helped  to  reconcile  Warren  to  her  con- 
tinued silence. 

A  little  flicker  of  triumph  crossed  Warren's  face. 
Her  sending  Phemie  for  eggs  was  obviously  a  ruse 
to  be  alone  with  him.  When  Phemie  had  departed 
on  her  errand,  with  obvious  reluctance,  he  leaned 
toward  Hephzibah,  his  smile  so  confident  that  it  was 
almost  a  smirk.  She  looked  up  with  a  directness 
rather  disconcerting  and  he  reflected  that  her  eyes 
even  in  a  face  like  Phemie's,  would  have  given  her 
a  certain  claim  to  beauty. 

"I  don't  like  men  folks  hangin'  'round  when  I'm 
busy."  Her  speech,  it  appeared,  was  as  direct  as  the 
gaze  of  those  adorable,  reddish  brown  eyes. 

"Then  what  do  you  say  to  a  little  walk  when 
you've  finished  your  work?" 

"I  ain't  got  the  time." 

"You  mean  you've  got  another  fellow  up  your 
sleeve,  don't  you?  Say,  let's  give  him  the  slip.  You 
ought  to  be  nice  to  me  after  I've  come  so  far  to  see 
you." 


76  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

She  turned  her  attention  again  to  the  cooking, 
drawing  her  arched  brows  into  a  frown.  He  no- 
ticed with  approval  that  her  beauty  lost  nothing  of 
its  distinction  by  her  look  of  ill  temper.  But  per- 
haps that  was  because  the  ill  temper  was  a  make- 
believe. 

He  leaned  toward  her  persuasively,  losing  his 
head  a  little  in  her  proximity.  His  pulses  quickened. 
He  thought  he  had  never  seen  anything  prettier  than 
the  way  her  hair  crinkled  away  from  her  creamy 
neck.  It  occurred  to  him  that  he  would  like  to  kiss 
the  cheek  whose  vivid  freshness  seemed  an  invi- 
tation to  such  temerity.  Country  people  were  prim- 
itive and  direct.  With  a  girl  of  the  type  of  Heph- 
zibah  Diggs,  a  kiss  was  simply  a  natural  expression 
of  admiration. 

As  his  lips  brushed  that  blooming  cheek,  she 
reached  for  the  bowl  containing  the  egg  yolks.  She 
did  not  look  in  his  direction  as  she  flung  the  contents 
in  his  face,  but  her  aim  was  true.  He  sprang  to  his 
feet  with  a  gasp  and  a  sputter.  There  was  an  in- 
credible quantity  of  that  sticky  yellow  stuff,  matting 
his  hair,  dripping  from  his  eyebrows,  trickling  in 
sickening  streams  down  his  neck. 

"You  little  vixen.    Does  this  stuff  spot?" 


COMPANY  MANNERS  77 

Hephzibah  ignored  his  inquiry.  Warren  backed 
away,  laughing  nervously,  his  mood  divided  between 
anger  with  her  and  shame  for  himself.  Then  panic 
seized  him  at  the  thought  of  encountering  Phemie 
and  he  took  a  hasty  departure,  mopping  himself  with 
his  handkerchief  as  he  ran. 

Howard  had  driven  Miss  Finch  to  church  and 
Forbes  was  alone  on  the  porch.  "You  didn't  walk 
far,"  he  said,  recognizing  his  friend's  step. 

"No — o.  Had  an  encounter  with  a  wasp.  I'll 
be  down  in  a  minute  when  I  repair  damages." 

He  hoped  Hephzibah  would  not  tell  Miss  Kent  of 
the  episode,  but  he  decided  to  take  the  chance,  and 
suggested  to  Forbes  his  coming  up  again  in  two  or 
three  weeks.  To  his  surprise  Forbes  was  not  en- 
thusiastic. 

"It  was  awfully  good  of  Miss  Kent  to  take  me 
in,"  he  explained,  apparently  forgetful  of  the  adver- 
tisement which  was  responsible  for  his  presence  at 
Oak  Knoll.  "And  I  don't  want  to  bother  her  with 
too  much  company,  I  think  she  finds  it  upsetting  to 
have  strangers  around,  and  it's  not  singular  when 
you  come  to  think  of  it.  For  all  she's  so  wonderful, 
she's  really  getting  to  be  an  old  lady." 


CHAPTER  VI 

HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE 

MISS  KENT'S  company  at  breakfast  Monday 
morning  was  an  agreeable  surprise  to  Forbes, 
his  pleasure  chastened  only  by  his  regret  that  War- 
ren had  left  on  the  late  train  the  previous  evening. 
"I  particularly  wanted  you  to  meet  him,"  Forbes 
complained.  "If  I'd  known  you  were  to  be  back 
so  early  I  should  have  insisted  on  his  staying  over." 

"It's  only  the  young  who  can  make  a  good  impres- 
sion at  breakfast,"  Agatha  responded.  "Old  people 
need  twilight  and  candles."  She  raised  her  eyebrows 
in  the  direction  of  Howard,  who  was  indicating  his 
approval  of  her  answer  by  a  soundless  show  of 
spirited  applause. 

"I'd  risk  the  impression  you'd  make  any  hour  in 
the  twenty-four,"  rejoined  Forbes  gallantly.  "But 
it  is  too  late  now.  Serves  Warren  right  for  being 
in  such  a  rush  to  get  back  to  his  confounded  busi- 
ness.   Tell  us  all  about  your  good  time,  Miss  Kent." 

7S 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE         79 

"I  didn't  have  one."  Agatha  felt  the  statement  to 
be  indiscreet,  but  her  imagination  was  not  equal  to 
lending  any  glamour  to  her  nightmare  of  a  Sunday. 

"You  didn't  enjoy  yourself?"  Forbes'  voice  indi- 
cated sympathetic  surprise.  "Why,  what  was 
wrong?" 

"I  didn't  say  I  was  going  away  to  enjoy  myself. 
I  didn't  expect  to.    You  took  that  for  granted." 

"I  see.  One  of  those  formal  visits  that  are  even 
more  deadly  than  formal  calls,  because  they're 
longer." 

"And  it  turned  out  worse  than  I  expected." 
Agatha  was  finding  a  certain  melancholy  pleasure  in 
speaking  her  real  sentiments.  "Because  I  had  a  dis- 
agreeable encounter  with  a  perfectly  obnoxious  per- 
son. But  it's  over,  thank  heaven,  and  I  don't  want 
to  talk  about  it." 

This  topic  being  tabooed  by  mutual  consent,  it  was 
natural  that  Forbes  should  begin  to  talk  about  Julia, 
as  a  theme  eminently  calculated  to  cheer  the  de- 
spondent, and  lend  interest  to  the  most  tedious  hour. 
Agatha,  listening,  realized  that  her  week  was  to  be 
a  hard  one.  It  was  time  for  Forbes  to  expect  an- 
other letter  from  Julia,  and  of  course  Julia  would 
not  write  so  promptly  as  he  expected,  and  it  would 


80  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

be  increasingly  difficult  to  keep  him  in  good  spirits. 
Over  her  coffee  Agatha  laid  plans  for  distracting 
her  boarder's  thoughts  from  his  elusive  corre- 
spondent. 

Her  apprehension  proved  correct.  That  after- 
noon Howard  was  sent  to  the  village  to  do  one  or 
two  little  errands  for  his  employer,  and  incidentally 
to  get  the  mail.  The  next  day  the  same  program 
was  followed  and  the  third  brought  no  change.  And 
meanwhile  the  arrival  of  the  Rural  Free  Delivery 
wagon  was  daily  awaited  with  an  anticipation  not 
justified  by  results. 

Agatha  starting  down  the  long  driveway  one 
morning,  as  the  fateful  hour  approached,  saw  Forbes 
and  Howard  on  ahead,  evidently  bound  on  the  same 
errand.  Before  she  could  turn  back,  Howard  caught 
sight  of  her  and  abandoning  his  charge,  he  came  to- 
ward her  on  the  run. 

"You  were  starting  for  the  mail,  weren't  you, 
Aggie?  Would  you  mind  taking  him  along  while  I 
see  if  I've  got  a  rat  in  my  trap?"  Then  dropping 
his  voice  to  a  scornful  undertone,  "He's  got  to  go 
himself  because  he's  expecting  a  letter  from  his  girl, 
and  can't  wait  for  it  to  be  brought  up.     See?" 

Agatha  accepted  the  commission  without  com- 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        81 

mcnt.  She  joined  Forbes,  and  taking  his  arm, 
guided  him  the  length  of  the  shaded  drive.  Neither 
had  much  to  say.  Forbes  was  evidently  bracing  him- 
self for  possible  disappointment  and  Agatha  was  not 
in  a  talkative  mood.  They  had  hardly  reached  the 
main  road  before  Agatha's  observant  eyes  detected 
in  the  distance  a  significant  cloud  of  dust.  "He's 
coming,"  she  said  with  a  reservation  in  her  tone 
intended  to  warn  her  companion  not  to  be  over- 
sanguine.    "We  won't  have  long  to  wait." 

The  wagon  approached  and  halted.  The  driver 
produced  a  miscellaneous  assortment  of  letters  and 
one  good-sized  package,  the  latter  he  scrutinized  as 
if  reluctant  to  part  with  it.  "Do  you  know  anybody 
around  here,"  he  brought  out  with  irritating  delib- 
eration, "by  the  name  of  Diggs — Hep — Hephzibah 
Diggs?  Ain't  that  a  name  for  your  life?" 

Agatha  gazed  at  him  wild-eyed,  incapable  for  the 
moment  of  speech. 

"It's  addressed  to  Oak  Knoll,"  the  speaker  con- 
tinued. "But  I  thought  mebbe  there  was  some  mis- 
take.   I  never  knew  any  Diggses  in  these  parts." 

Agatha  recovered  herself  and  extended  her  hand. 
"Yes,"  she  said  hurriedly.  "It's  all  right.  I'll 
take  it." 


82  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

'^The  mail-carrier  surrendered  the  collection. 
"You're  getting  to  have  quite  a  raft  of  boarders," 
he  commented  affably.  "Feller  has  to  have  his  wits 
about  him  to  keep  track  of  so  many  new  names." 
He  clucked  to  his  horses  and  the  wagon  rattled  on. 

Oblivious  to  her  responsibilities  as  temporary 
post-mistress,  Agatha  stood  quaking.  To  her  guilty 
conscience  the  significance  of  the  mail-carrier's  in- 
quiry was  unmistakable.  He  had  never  heard  of  a 
family  in  the  vicinity  named  Diggs.  He  assumed 
that  Hephzibah  was  a  summer  boarder.  Agatha  did 
not  doubt  that  Forbes  was  pondering  these  extraor- 
dinary facts,  and  that  his  first  words  would  de- 
mand an  explanation.  With  hanging  head  she  waited 
for  him  to  begin  his  cross-examination,  but  his  voice 
when  he  spoke  was  anxious  rather  than  peremptory. 
"Well?" 

Agatha  gasped.    "I — why — you  see — " 

"You  know  her  handwriting,  don't  you?"  asked 
the  lover.  "I'm  not  sure  where  this  letter  will  be 
posted." 

Agatha  reflected  that  love  is  sometimes  deaf  as 
well  as  blind.  So  engrossed  was  Forbes  in  his  own 
anticipations  that  the  compromising  conversation 
with  the  mail-carrier  had  made  no  impression  on  his 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        83 

consciousness.  After  a  hasty  survey  of  the  hand- 
ful of  letters,  Agatha  announced  in  a  stifled  voice 
that  there  were  two  letters  for  Forbes,  but  neither 
seemed  to  be  from  Julia.  Her  face  betrayed  an 
emotion  due  not  to  the  tragedy  of  Forbes'  disap- 
pointment, but  to  the  discovery  that  there  was  a  let- 
ter as  well  as  a  package,  addressed  to  Hephzibah 
Diggs.  That  young  woman,  the  fantasy  of  a  day, 
had  taken  on  a  terrifying  vitality.  There  was  no 
way  of  estimating  her  possible  activities.  Agatha's 
emotions  were  those  of  Frankenstein  when  he  dis- 
covered that  his  monster  was  alive. 

^They  made  their  way  back  to  the  house,  Forbes 
valiantly  explaining  why  it  was  foolish  to  have  ex- 
pected a  letter  before  afternoon,  and  Agatha  making 
irrelevant  replies.  She  turned  her  companion  over 
to  Howard  and  escaped  to  her  room  with  the  mail 
addressed  to  Hephzibah  Diggs.  An  absurd  scruple 
regarding  the  opening  of  other  people's  letters  tem- 
porarily paralyzed  her  efficient  right  arm,  and  she 
stood  staring  at  the  address  of  the  communication 
without  coming  any  nearer  a  knowledge  of  its  con- 
tents. It  was  impossible  to  rid  herself  of  the  feeling 
that  she  was  on  the  point  of  attempting  something 
dishonorable. 


84  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"What  a  fool  I  am/'  she  groaned  in  exasperation. 
"Hephzibah  Diggs  isn't  anybody,  but  if  she  were 
anybody,  she'd  be  me."  She  tore  open  the  letter 
without  giving  herself  a  chance  to  evade  the  inevi- 
table conclusion  of  this  bit  of  logic. 

It  was  from  Warren,  of  course.  She  had  been 
prepared  for  that,  even  without  the  testimony  of  his 
bold  signature.  With  a  curiosity  that  momentarily 
made  her  oblivious  to  the  menacing  aspects  of  the 
situation,  Agatha  read  the  brief  communication; 

"My  Dear  Miss  Diggs  : 

"I  am  writing  you  a  line  to  apologize  for  my  con- 
duct Sunday.  You  were  all  right,  and  I  was  all 
wrong.  At  the  same  time,  you'll  have  to  take  a  little 
share  of  the  blame  for  being  so  distractingly  pretty 
that  a  man's  likely  to  lose  his  head  when  he  comes 
near  you. 

"I  am  sending  you  by  this  mail  a  package  which  I 
hope  you  will  accept  as  indicating  my  regret  for  hav- 
ing offended  you,  and  my  sincere  wish  to  be 
"Your  friend, 

"RiDGELEY  Warren/' 

Agatha  turned  her  thoughtful  attention  to  the 
package  which  bore  Hephzibah's  name.  She  pro- 
ceeded to  strip  off  the  wrapping  paper  with  a  haste 
indicating  that  her  scruples  were  finally  set  at  rest. 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        85 

Then  as  she  took  the  cover  from  the  five-pound  box 
of  chocolates,  and  gazed  enraptured  at  the  triumph 
of  the  confectioner's  art,  she  temporarily  laid  aside 
the  feeling  of  age  due  to  the  faithful  impersonation 
of  her  great-aunt,  and  became  nineteen  or  a  trifle 
less. 

"Chocolates,"  murmured  Agatha.  "And  millions 
of  them.  In  the  person  of  Hephzibah  Diggs  I  ac- 
cept the  apology." 

When  she  reappeared  upon  the  porch,  her  man- 
ner was  cheerful,  and  a  number  of  yawning  cavities 
marred  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  topmost 
layer  of  chocolates  in  the  box  up-stairs.  Forbes 
greeted  her  with  more  animation  than  she  had 
looked  for,  considering  his  recent  crushing  disap- 
pointment. 

"That's  you,  isn't  it.  Miss  Kent?" 

"Yes." 

"Here's  a  letter  Howard  has  just  read  me.  I  want 
you  to  look  it  over  and  tell  me  what  you  think  of  it." 

"Very  well."  Agatha  seated  herself  comfortably 
and  took  the  letter  from  his  extended  hand.  But 
Forbes  was  evidently  desirous  of  preparing  her  for 
its  contents. 

"It  will  be  a  surprise  to  you,  I  imagine,  Miss 


86  AGATHA'S  AUNX 

Kent.  What  is  your  opinion  of  Hephzibah?  Is 
she  really  such  a  stunning  beauty?" 

"I  suppose  she  would  be  considered  fairly  good- 
looking  if  any  one  liked  the  type."  Agatha  flattered 
herself  that  she  had  spoken  with  a  creditable  lack 
of  prejudice. 

"According  to  Warren  she's  considerably  more 
than  that.  The  fact  is,  he — but  you'd  better  read  the 
letter.    That  makes  it  plain  enough." 

With  a  return  of  her  previous  misgivings,  Agatha 
followed  his  suggestion. 


"My  Dear  Forbes: 

*Tf  you  had  shown  a  little  more  enthusiasm  over 
my  suggestion  of  dropping  in  on  you  again  soon,  I 
should  have  run  down  at  the  end  of  the  week,  and 
had  a  good  talk  with  you.  Owing  to  your  inhospita- 
ble reluctance  I'm  obliged  to  trust  to  writing,  which 
I  sometimes  think  was  invented,  as  somebody  said 
about  speech,  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  thought. 

"To  come  straight  to  the  point,  I  must  confess 
that  I  had  a  short  and  not  wholly  satisfactory  in- 
terview with  the  fair  Hephzibah  on  Sunday,  in  the 
course  of  which  my  earlier  impression  of  her  beauty 
was  more  than  confirmed.  By  jove,  Burton,  she 
positively  is  a  dream.  And  the  idea  that  a  creature 
of  that  sort  should  spend  her  days  amid  pots  and 
kettles  is  obnoxious  to  any  right-thinking  man. 
We've  got  to  do  something  about  it,  Forbes.  What 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        87 

'do  you  think  of  sending  her  to  school  somewhere, 
and  having  her  educated?  It  would  he  virgin  soil, 
I  imagine,  for  the  poor  girl  can't  open  her  mouth 
without  taking  a  bite  out  of  the  king's  English, 
and  her  voice  is  like  a  guinea  hen's.  But  that  could 
be  trained  out  of  her.  For  all  her  ignorance,  she's 
nobody's  fool.   You  can  see  that  by  looking  at  her. 

"Now  I'm  putting  the  thing  up  to  you  because  I 
suppose  it  would  be  better  to  have  Miss  Kent  act  for 
us  in  the  matter.  Judging  from  my  brief  experience 
Hephzibah — can't  we  find  some  euphonic  substitute 
for  that  name? — Is  as  self-respecting  as  the  devil. 
Explain  to  Miss  Kent  that  I'm  a  respectable  man  of 
philanthropic  tendencies — hitherto  unrecognized — 
and  ask  her  what  would  be  the  best  way  to  go  about 
taking  the  girl  in  hand,  and  giving  her  an  education, 
or  enough  of  one  so  she  can  make  a  reasonably  good 
appearance.  And  then  we  can  decide  on  the  next 
step.  A  few  hundred  a  year  will  be  enough  to  do 
the  job  properly,  and  if  you  feel  like  going  into  it 
with  me,  it  might  help  to  reassure  Miss  Kent  as  to 
the  impeccability  of  my  motives. 

"Lord !  What  a  letter !  I  haven't  written  so  much 
with  my  own  fist  since  I  was  in  college,  and  at  the 
same  time  I  feel  as  if  fifteen  minutes  of  chinning 
would  have  made  the  matter  a  heap  clearer.  If  the 
girl  should  prove  to  have  enough  head  for  the  legiti- 
mate stage  she  ought  to  make  a  hit  as  Katharine,  in 
Taming  the  Shrew.  She's  exactly  the  type,  red  hair 
and  all. 

"Regards  to  the  voluble  Miss  Finch,  to  Howard, 
and  of  course  to  Miss  Kent.  Yours, 

"R.  W." 


88  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Agatha  was  glad  the  letter  was  a  long  one,  as  this 
gave  her  time  to  think.  And  yet  the  result  of  her 
thinking  was  but  a  confused  jumble  of  varying  ap- 
prehensions. Her  recollection  of  Warren's  face  as 
he  leaned  toward  her,  was  that  of  a  man  not  easily 
turned  aside  from  a  purpose.  But  somehow  or  other 
he  must  be  forced  to  surrender  his  absurd  philan- 
thropic intentions  in  behalf  of  Hephzibah  Diggs. 

Forbes  was  waiting  for  her  verdict.  "Well?"  he 
said  at  last,  wTien  she  showed  no  inclination  to  speak. 
"What  do  you  think  of  it?" 

Agatha  cleared  her  throat.  "It's  out  of  the  ques- 
tion," she  shot  at  him  so  violently  that  he  looked 
startled* 

"I'm  ready  to  vouch  for  Warren,"  he  hastened  to 
say.  "I  don't  mean  that  he  would  be  as  ready  to 
help  a  plain  girl  as  a  pretty  one,  but  I  assure  you 
that  your  protegee  would  be  perfectly  safe  as  far  as 
he's  concerned.  And  I  suppose  he's  right  in  thinking 
that  beauty  is  one  of  the  talents,  and  it's  hardly  fair 
to  keep  it  wrapped  in  a  napkin." 

"But  she  doesn't  want  to  be  educated,"  Agatha 
protested.    "She's  perfectly  satisfied  just  as  she  is." 

Again  Forbes  seemed  to  find  her  vehemence  per- 
plexing.    "Perhaps  her  ignorance  explains  her  in- 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        89 

difference,"  he  suggested.  "Do  you  think  she's  ca- 
pable of  learning?'* 

"I  suppose  she's  capable  enough." 

"If  she's  really  a  strikingly  handsome  young 
woman  with  a  fair  mind,  and  Warren  is  sufficiently 
interested  in  her  to  give  her  an  education,  doesn't 
it  seem  that  she  should  be  encouraged  to  accept  his 
offer?  Surely  if  she  is  what  he  thinks,  she  is 
capable  of  something  better  than  the  work  she  is  do- 
ing at  present.  Unless  you  have  some  good  reason 
for  feeling  that  it  would  not  do — " 

"But  I  have,"  flashed  Agatha.    "I  have." 

"Oh,  indeed !"  He  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  her 
to  explain,  and  she  floundered  on  with  a  horrible  sen- 
sation of  being  caught  in  a  quicksand. 

"She  doesn't  wish  to  be  educated.  She  doesn't 
wish  any  notice  taken  of  her;  she  only  asks  to  be  let 
alone." 

"To  be  let  alone."  He  said  the  words  over  as  if 
they  had  a  hidden,  mysterious  meaning.  "Oh,  I 
think  I  begin  to  see." 

Agatha  sighed  her  satisfaction.  She  had  no  idea 
what  explanation  had  presented  itself  to  the  per- 
spicacious Mr.  Forbes,  but  she  perceived  that  at 
length  her  protests  had  taken  effect  and  he  was  pre- 


90  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

pared  to  relinquish  the  argument.  So  great  was  her 
relief  that  the  processes  of  his  mind  failed  to  in- 
terest her. 

Unluckily  Forbes  was  one  of  the  people  who  in- 
sist on  certainty.  "I  suppose,"  he  said,  a  note  of 
sympathy  in  his  deep  voice,  "that  the  poor  girl  has 
been  unfortunate." 

Agatha  blanched.  He  waited  for  her  avowal, 
then  tried  again:  "You  mean,  I  suppose,  there's 
some  unhappy  episode  in  her  past  life  and  she  doesn't 
want  to  attract  attention  for  fear  of  its  bobbing  up 
again." 

Agatha  stared  at  him  aghast.  Her  first  impulse 
to  defend  the  character  of  Hephzibah  Diggs  at  any 
cost  yielded  to  a  less  worthy  caution.  If  she  gave 
Hephzibah  a  clean  bill  of  health,  figuratively  speak- 
ing, what  other  reason  could  she  invent  for  her  in- 
vincible repugnance  to  attracting  attention?  With 
fascinated  horror  she  realized  that  Forbes'  conjec- 
ture exactly  filled  the  requirements  of  the  case. 
There  was  no  help  for  it.  The  fair  name  of  the 
blameless  Hephzibah  must  be  sacrificed  to  that  most 
merciless  of  the  divinities,  the  exigency  of  the  mo- 
ment. 

"You  have  expressed  it,"  faltered  Agatha  with  an 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        91 

unnerving  sense  of  rank  injustice,  "as  well  as  I 
could  have  myself." 

"Poor  girl!"  Forbes  repeated,  "and  so  young, 
too.  At  least  I  suppose  she's  young,  from  Warren's 
idea  of  educating  her." 

Again  he  waited  for  an  answer,  and  Agatha  stam- 
mered, "Ni-nineteen." 

"And  all  this  happened  some  time  ago,  I  suppose." 

"Oh,  a  long  time."  Agatha  was  crimson  to  her 
ears. 

"It  seems  a  shame,"  mused  Forbes  aloud.  "Her 
whole  life  to  be  sacrificed  for  one  step  aside  from 
the  straight  and  narrow  path.  You  and  I  know  the 
world,  Miss  Kent.    And  we  know — " 

"Oh,  please,"  protested  Agatha  faintly,  "I  don't 
know  anything  about  it." 

He  leaned  toward  her  quickly,  touched  by  the  ap- 
peal in  her  voice. 

"Excuse  me.  Miss  Kent.  I  know  you  belong  to  a 
generation  whose  women  were  trained  to  shut  their 
eyes  to  a  great  many  things.  I  don't  believe  in  that 
theory  of  life,  but  I  haven't  any  intention  of  violat- 
ing your  prejudices.  All  I  wanted  to  say  was  that 
you  and  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  thou- 
sands of  our  respected  citizens,  prominent  socially 


92  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

and  otherwise,  are  every  bit  as  guilty  as  that  poor 
girl.  And  since  this  is  the  case,  isn't  it  a  pity  that 
her  morbid  sensitiveness  should  shut  her  out  of 
making  something  of  herself?" 

It  was  unbelievable,  Hephzibah's  reputation  had 
been  blackened  in  vain.  Even  now  he  was  unwilling 
to  leave  her  in  the  seclusion  her  sensitiveness  craved. 
He  was  determined  to  drag  her  into  a  garish  pub- 
licity. Iphigenia  had  been  sacrificed  and  still  the 
winds  were  unfavorable. 

**0h,  I  wish  you  would  not  talk  of  this  any  more," 
cried  Agatha,  the  intensity  of  her  feeling  showing 
in  her  moved  voice.  "I  understand  Hephzibah's 
case  a  great  deal  better  than  you  do,  better  than  you 
ever  can.  And  I  know  that  the  thing  you're  talking 
about  is  out  of  the  question." 

His  face  reflected  her  agitation  in  the  shape  of 
profound  sympathy.  "You're  sure  that  if  we  talked 
it  over,  we  wouldn't  find  a  way  out?  Two  heads 
are  better  than  one,  you  know  ?" 

"I'm  absolutely  certain." 

"Then  I  won't  distress  you  any  further.  Of 
course  Warren  has  barely  seen  the  girl,  and  it's  evi- 
dent that  his  head  was  a  little  turned  by  her  beauty. 
You  know  her,  and  I'm  sure  you  appreciate  the  re- 


HEPHZIBAH  COMES  TO  LIFE        93 

sponsibility  of  deciding  a  question  that  concerns  her 
so  closely,  without  even  consulting  her." 

"I  can  speak  for  her  as  I  would  for  myself." 
"Then  I'm  sorry  if  the  suggestion  has  worried 
you.  I'll  see  you're  not  bothered  again."  He  spoke 
confidently,  and  Agatha  hoped  he  did  not  over- 
estimate his  influence  where  Ridgeley  Warren  was 
concerned.  When  she  remembered  the  square  chin 
of  the  last-named  young  man,  she  did  not  feel  sure. 
In  her  heart  she  gave  Forbes  credit  for  having 
done  his  best.  Later  in  the  day  Howard  showed 
her  a  letter  he  had  written  to  Mr.  Ridgeley  Warren 
at  Forbes'  dictation.  Without  explanation  but  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner  possible,  Warren  was  as- 
sured that  his  scheme  was  impracticable.  "I  can 
not  very  well  go  into  details,"  the  letter  ran,  "but 
Miss  Kent,  who  knows  the  case  thoroughly,  has 
convinced  me  that  the  kindest  thing,  as  far  as  the 
girl  is  concerned,  is  to  leave  her  alone."  And  to 
this  sentiment  Agatha  sighed  a  tremulous  amen. 


CHAPTER  VII 


DAY   DREAMS 


FOR  the  first  time  since  she  could  remember, 
Miss  Finch  felt  herself  living  in  an  atmosphere 
of  romance.  If  a  young  man's  fancy  turns  to 
thoughts  of  love  only  under  the  allurements  of 
spring  weather,  Zaida  Finch  surpassed  the  average 
youth  by  full  three  seasons.  Love  and  matrimony 
occupied  her  thoughts  twelve  months  in  the  year, 
and  to  an  extent  inconceivable  in  view  of  her  gen- 
eral colorless  and  withered  aspect. 

Though  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  the  de- 
signing spinster  of  the  comic  stage.  Miss  Finch  had 
not  as  yet  surrendered  the  hope  of  changing  her 
name.  From  her  point  of  view  the  unmarried 
woman  was  a  self-advertised  failure.  Husbands, 
as  far  as  she  had  been  able  to  observe,  were  always 
disappointing,  and  not  infrequently  obnoxious,  yet 
to  lack  one  somehow  proved  one's  self  less  than  a 

94 


DAY  DREAMS  95 

woman.  In  those  dreams  which  never  passed  the 
bounds  of  maidenly  reserve,  she  sometimes  imagined 
herself  addressed  by  the  prefix  which  indicates  the 
dignity  of  wifehood — she  would  have  died  sooner 
than  have  coupled  it  with  the  name  of  any  man  of 
her  acquaintance — and  then  in  the  words  of  a 
simpler  and  more  direct  age,  she  felt  that  her  re- 
proach among  men  had  been  taken  away.  The  se- 
cret weighing  heaviest  on  her  heart  was  the  knowl- 
edge that  no  man  had  ever  indicated  that  he  wanted 
her. 

Needless  to  say,  Miss  Finch's  present  mood  of 
sentiment  was  entirely  vicarious.  Agatha's  pros- 
pects absorbed  her  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  her 
own  timid  dreams.  Miss  Finch  was  constitutionally 
incapable  of  realizing  Agatha's  vivid  beauty,  though 
she  sometimes  told  herself  that  if  it  were  not  for  her 
red  hair,  which  she  innocently  assumed  to  be  a  mis- 
fortune, Agatha  would  be  a  really  pretty  girl,  Forbes 
had  no  sooner  made  his  appearance  than  Miss  Finch 
had  inventoried  his  qualifications  for  Agatha's  fu- 
ture husband,  and  had  not  found  him  altogether 
wanting.  His  blindness  was  a  misfortune  largely 
offset  by  his  amiability,  and  free  use  of  money,  and 
in  her  association  with  him,  Agatha  had  developed 


96  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

a  sympathetic  patience  her  old  friend  could  not  re- 
gard as  characteristic. 

"And  it  looks  to  me  as  if  he  were  taken  with 
her,"  Miss  Finch  had  congratulated  herself.  "He 
chirks  up  as  soon  as  she  comes  near  him.  H  he 
likes  her  so  well  when  he  thinks  she's  an  old  woman, 
he  ought  to  like  her  better  when  he  finds  she's  a 
young  one." 

There  was,  to  be  sure,  one  serious  difficulty  to  be 
met  in  the  readjustment  of  Forbes'  ideas  on  the  im- 
portant subject  of  Agatha's  identity.  At  this  point 
Miss  Finch's  dreams  ended  in  chaotic  confusion  and 
with  her  oft-repeated  lament,  "There's  no  good  go- 
ing to  come  from  cheating  a  blind  man." 

After  Warren's  visit,  Miss  Finch's  match-making 
tendencies  took  another  direction.  H  Warren  had 
failed  to  make  an  impression  on  the  unsusceptible 
Hephzibah,  he  had  nothing  to  complain  of  as  far 
as  Phemie  and  Miss  Finch  were  concerned.  In  spite 
of  the  agitation  induced  by  her  unwonted  responsi- 
bilities on  the  occasion  of  Warren's  visit,  Miss  Finch 
had  been  keenly  alive  to  the  young  man's  cheerful 
good  humor,  and  his  naive  self -enjoyment  had  com- 
municated itself  to  the  one  of  his  audience  who 


DAY  DREAMS  97 

seemed  least  responsive.  "Exactly  the  one  for  dear 
Agatha,"  declared  Miss  Finch. 

With  the  discovery  of  the  source  of  the  box  of 
chocolates,  Miss  Finch's  smoldering  hopes  leaped 
into  flame.  Caution  had  dictated  Agatha's  conceal- 
ment of  Warren's  tangible  apology,  but  to  a  girl  of 
her  temperament  the  solitary  consumption  of  a  five- 
pound  box  of  confectionery  was  a  moral  impossi- 
bility. Her  innate  generosity  forced  her  to  share 
the  sweets  with  Forbes  and  Miss  Finch  and  Howard 
and  even  with  Phemie,  Three  of  her  beneficiaries 
accepted  their  shares  as  unthinkingly  as  the  lilies  of 
the  field,  but  Miss  Finch  showed  a  troublesome  ten- 
dency to  ask  questions. 

"Agatha,  you  don't  mean  you've  been  wasting 
your  money  on  candy?  A  box  of  that  size  must 
have  cost  something  awful." 

"No,  Fritz,  I  didn't  buy  it." 

Experience  had  taught  Miss  Finch  to  be  on  her 
guard  when  Agatha  wore  that  look  of  wide-eyed 
innocence.  She  pondered  the  seemingly  straight- 
forward reply. 

"Having  things  charged  is  the  same  as  buying 
'em,  Agatha.    You've  got  to  pay  for  'em  some  time." 


98  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"But  these  were  given  me,  Fritz  dear.  They  were 
an  apology." 

"Mr.  Forbes!"  gasped  Miss  Finch,  and  at  once 
the  strains  of  the  wedding  march  rang  in  her  ears. 

"Mr.  Forbes!  The  very  idea!  The  only  trouble 
with  him  is  that  he  never  did  anything  in  his  life  to 
apologize  for.  He's  so  perfect  that  people  mistake 
him  for  a  worm  and  trample  on  him." 

"I  didn't  mean  to  make  you  mad,  Agatha,"  Miss 
Finch  protested  timidly,  shrinking  from  the  flame  in 
Agatha's  eyes.  The  inexplicable  girl  stared  for  a 
moment  and  then  to  Miss  Finch's  great  relief,  burst 
into  a  laugh. 

"Fritz,  you're  funnier  than  a  box  of  monkeys.  H 
you  must  know,  Mr.  Warren  sent  the  chocolates." 

"To  you  ?"  Miss  Finch  almost  screamed  it.  And 
forthwith  the  summer  breeze  brought  to  her  nostrils 
the  odor  of  orange  blossoms. 

"That's  the  question  that's  troubling  me,  Fritz. 
The  box  was  addressed  to  Hephzibah.  But  as  I  am 
her  nearest  living  relative — you  might  almost  say 
her  mother — " 

Miss  Finch  swept  these  fine  points  aside.  "I  didn't 
know  he'd  ever  seen  you." 

"He  walked  into  the  kitchen  while  you  were  at 


PAY  DREAMS  99 

church.  That's  exactly  his  style,  I  imagine.  And 
when  he  saw  me  there  rolling  biscuits,  he  talked  a  lot 
of  nonsense  and  ended  by  kissing  me." 

"Agatha!"  gasped  Miss  Finch.  Her  emotions 
were  confused.  She  was  under  the  impression  that 
this  recital  confirmed  her  wildest  hopes  and  at  the 
same  time  outraged  her  finer  sensibilities.  Possibly 
her  reprehensibly  exultant  feeling  was  due  to  an 
overwhelming  certainty  that  this  at  least  was  life. 

Her  face  aflame  as  if  she  and  not  Agatha  had  been 
the  recipient  of  that  kiss,  Miss  Finch  attempted  to 
discharge  her  responsibilities  as  mentor  of  youth. 
"Agatha,  I  can't  understand  it.  I'm  afraid  you 
must  have  acted  bold.  I  never  heard  of  a  gentle- 
man's walking  into  a  kitchen,  and  kissing  a  young 
lady  he'd  never  seen  before." 

"Nor  I,  Fritz.  And  that  leads  me  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Mr.  Warren  isn't  exactly  a  gentleman.  At 
the  same  time,"  Agatha  added,  helping  herself  to 
another  chocolate,  "he  apologized  very  sweetly." 

"Is  he  coming  to  see  you?"  demanded  Miss  Finch, 
who  in  her  ignorance  of  the  ways  of  the  great  world 
assumed  that  so  spontaneous  a  tribute  must  be 
merely  preliminary  to  an  ardent  courtship. 
'    "He  had  an  idea  of  taking  my  education  in  hand." 


100  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Agatha  briefly  outlined  Warren's  philanthropic 
scheme  in  behalf  of  Hephzibah  Diggs,  and  Miss 
Finch  turned  all  colors  as  she  listened.  Now  at 
last  she  knew  that  the  romantic  novels  with  which 
she  solaced  her  leisure  hours  had  not  misled  her. 
There  really  was  such  a  thing  as  love  at  first  sight. 

"Agatha!"  she  ventured  tremulously,  "you  could 
marry  that  man  to-morrow  if  you  liked.  It's  as 
plain  as  the  nose  on  your  face  that  he's  dead  in 
love  with  you." 

"If  it  were  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  his  face,  that 
would  settle  it.  But  as  nothing  would  induce  me  to 
marry  him  to-morrow  or  any  other  day,  the  state 
of  his  feelings  doesn't  matter." 

"But  I'm  sure,  Agatha,"  remonstrated  Miss  Finch, 
"that  you  wouldn't  want  to  break  his  heart." 

Agatha's  reply  was  a  paroxysm  of  laughter  that 
left  her  gasping  and  tearful.  "Oh,  Fritz,"  she  half 
sobbed,  as  she  wiped  her  eyes,  "I'm  so  glad  you 
didn't  die  when  you  were  little." 

Miss  Finch  was  on  her  dignity.  "I  know  you're 
making  fun  of  me,  Agatha.  But  it's  no  laughing 
matter  to  wreck  a  man's  life." 

Again  Agatha  yielded  to  mirth.  "You've  seen 
Mr.  Warren  and  yet  you  say  that." 


DAY  DREAMS  101 

"I  can't  see  why  you  take  that  tone,  Agatha.  I'm 
sure  he's  a  nice  young  man  and  so  lively." 

**ril  admit  the  liveliness  but  not  the  heart,  at  least 
not  the  broken  heart.  That  young  man  owns  a  good, 
tough,  thoroughly  seasoned  organ,  take  it  from  me." 

Miss  Finch  sighed  but  with  less  dejection  than 
her  manner  indicated.  Little  as  she  had  learned  of 
the  ways  of  men  and  women  in  her  guileless  spin- 
sterhood,  she  had  somehow  gathered  the  impression 
that  girls  occasionally  abused  the  admirers  who 
stood  highest  in  their  maidenly  affections,  for  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  them  defended.  And  though 
she  could  not  be  sure  that  this  explained  Agatha's 
slighting  references  to  a  most  agreeable  young  man. 
Miss  Finch  resolved  to  lose  no  opportunity  of  sound- 
ing Warren's  praises.  In  his  case,  too,  there  was  an 
imfortunate  confusion  of  identity  to  be  cleared  up, 
but  from  Miss  Finch's  point  of  view,  a  young  man 
who  could  give  a  kiss  and  a  mammoth  box  of  choc- 
olates to  a  pretty  girl,  under  the  impression  that  she 
was  a  servant,  would  not  hesitate  to  lay  his  heart  at 
her  feet  when  he  discovered  that  her  blood  was  as 
good  as  his  own. 

Developments  convinced  Miss  Finch  of  the  wis- 
dom of  her  chosen  tactics.    She  overlooked  no  op- 


102  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

portunlty  to  speak  a  good  word  for  the  absent  War- 
ren, acquiring  a  certain  irrelevant  eloquence  on  the 
theme.  And  though  Agatha  gave  no  indication  of 
agreeing  with  her,  it  was  evident  that  she  enjoyed 
her  earnestness  and  was  more  inclined  to  lead  her 
on  than  to  check  her  fluency. 

Whether  because  of  Miss  Finch's  judicious  oppo- 
sition or  some  less  obvious  reason,  Agatha  was  in 
noticeably  high  spirits.  She  entered  into  playing 
her  role  with  a  whimsical  abandon  that  at  times 
moved  even  Miss  Finch  to  laughter,  in  spite  of  her 
conscientious  misgivings.  Indeed  the  spirit  of 
cheerful  animation  pervaded  the  entire  household. 
Whether  because  Forbes  had  at  length  resigned  him- 
self to  hearing  from  Julia  only  once  in  two  or  three 
weeks,  or  whether  the  improvement  in  his  health 
furnished  the  necessary  elasticity  for  resisting  dis- 
appointment, his  moods  of  depression  were  becom- 
ing very  infrequent.  He  spent  less  time  on  the 
porch  and  more  on  long  jaunts  with  Howard.  The 
two  went  fishing  frequently  and  sometimes  Agatha 
made  a  third,  in  which  case  the  pace  was  regulated 
strictly  according  to  Forbes'  view  of  what  was  due 
her  advanced  years.  Agatha  was  sure  she  would 
find  more  enjoyment  on  the  occasions  when  the  two 


DAY  DREAMS  103 

males  went  as  fast  and  as  far  as  they  pleased,  unde- 
terred by  consideration  for  the  aged. 

One  exhilarating  morning  Forbes  and  Howard 
left  soon  after  breakfast,  taking  their  luncheon  with 
them,  and  advising  Agatha  to  expect  them  only 
when  she  saw  them.  With  her  customary  knack  for 
utilizing  the  moments,  Agatha  improved  their  ab- 
sence to  despatch  a  number  of  tasks  awaiting  her 
attention,  and  wound  up  by  washing  her  hair.  She 
made  her  appearance  on  the  lawn  in  the  early  after- 
noon, her  splendid  mane  falling  almost  to  her  waist 
and  reflecting  the  sunshine  like  burnished  copper. 
Already  the  little  tendrils  were  beginning  to  curl 
about  her  face  while  the  water  dropped  from  the 
long  ends. 

Agatha  seated  herself  in  the  sun,  lifting  the  cop- 
pery mass  strand  by  strand,  that  it  might  dry  more 
quickly.  Had  Miss  Finch  been  versed  in  classical 
lore,  she  might  have  been  reminded  of  the  golden 
fleece  for  which  men  risked  so  much.  As  it  was 
she  said  chidingly,  "Agatha,  you  will  freckle  ter- 
ribly if  you're  not  careful." 

"This  sun  is  worth  a  peppering  of  freckles," 
Agatha  answered  recklessly,  but  she  pulled  her  hair 
over  her  face  and  then  she  resembled  Danae  veiled 


104  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

by  a  shower  of  gold.  It  was  several  minutes  before 
she  made  a  peek-hole  in  the  screen,  and  looked  at 
Miss  Finch  apprehensively. 

"Fritz,  I  hear  wheels.  Don't  tell  me  that  in  spite 
of  my  repeated  warnings,  we're  going  to  have  call- 
ers. 

Miss  Finch  stood  up.  The  very  slight  advantage 
due  to  an  upright  position  was  sufficient  to  enable 
her  to  recognize  the  occupant  of  the  approaching 
vehicle.     "It  looks  to  me  like  Jim  Doolittle." 

"Jim  Doolittle!"  exclaimed  Agatha,  amazed. 
"Why,  what  can  he  want?  He  must  be  coming  to 
see  you,  Fritz." 

"Agatha!"  quavered  Miss  Finch,  and  flushed  a 
painful  purple. 

"Well,  he  certainly  isn't  coming  to  see  me,  and  I 
find  it  hard  to  believe  that  Phemie  is  the  magnet. 
He  doesn't  know  Mr.  Forbes  and  Howard  is  a  trifle 
young  to  attract  him.  Please  see  what  he  wants, 
Fritz." 

"I— I'd  rather  not,  Agatha." 

"Why,  Fritz,  what  ails  you?  You  can  see  for 
yourself  that  I'm  in  no  condition  to  interview  Mr. 
Doolittle.  His  modesty  would  never  survive  the 
shock.     Send  him  away  as  soon  as  you  can.     It 


DAY  DREAMS  105 

won't  do  to  have  all  the  busybodies  of  the  neighbor- 
hood dropping  in  whenever  they  feel  like  it." 

Reluctantly  Miss  Finch  departed  on  her  inhospi- 
table mission.  But  it  seemed  that  Agatha  had  done 
Mr.  Doolittle  an  injustice.  He  had  come  on  an  en- 
tirely altruistic  errand. 

"There  was  a  telegram  at  the  office  for  Aggie's 
boarder,  and  I  offered  to  bring  it  out,  being  as  I 
was  driving  by." 

"A  telegram  for  Mr.  Forbes!"  fluttered  Miss 
Finch,  forgetting  her  shyness  in  sympathetic  con- 
cern. "I  hope  there's  no  more  trouble  in  store  for 
that  poor  young  man." 

"Wal,  the  Bible  says  to  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given,  and  I've  noticed  that's  likely  to  come  true,  as 
far  as  trouble's  concerned.  How's  the  poor  feller 
getting  on?  I  had  a  little  talk  with  him  one  day, 
and  I  made  up  my  mind  he  warn't  the  June-bug  sort 
of  crazy,  just  the  glum,  hold-your-tongue  kind." 

"I  guess  Mr.  Forbes'  brains  would  hold  their  own 
alongside  yours  or  mine !"  Miss  Finch  spoke  with 
some  heat  and  realized  her  mistake  in  time  to  add, 
"Though  of  course  he  thinks  a  lot  of  things  that 
aren't  so."  It  soothed  her  conscience  to  realize  the 
absolute  truth  of  her  closing  statement. 


106  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"I  know,  hallucinations  they  call  'em,"  said  Mr. 
Doolittle,  proud  of  his  mastery  of  the  polysyllable. 

Miss  Finch  was  not  sure  whether  Agatha  could  be 
reckoned  a  hallucination  or  not  and  she  evaded  the 
issue  by  adding  pointedly,  "He's  got  quite  an  aver- 
sion to  company." 

"I  could  see  that.  You'd  have  thought  it  would 
be  a  real  relief  to  him  to  talk  with  me,  man  to  man, 
after  being  shut  up  with  a  passel  of  women-folks, 
but  no !  I  couldn't  scarcely  get  a  word  out  of  him." 
Mr.  Doolittle  shook  his  head  in  sad  wonder  over  the 
vagaries  of  a  mind  distraught,  and  then  his  atten- 
tion wandered  to  a  patch  of  color  on  the  lawn.  "Is 
that  Aggie  Kent  in  the  brown  dress  with  her  hair 
hanging?" 

**Yes." 

"Looks  like  a  haycock  struck  by  lightning." 
Again  Mr.  Doolittle  shook  his  head.  "Aggie's  a 
lucky  girl  to  have  you  on  hand  to  steady  her  and 
keep  her  acting  sensible.  I  guess  everybody  'round 
here  knows  who's  the  backbone  in  this  house." 

"Agatha's  an  awful  capable  girl,"  said  Miss  Finch. 
She  was  aware  that  she  did  not  deserve  the  compli- 
ment, yet  because  of  that  contrary  twist  in  human 
nature  from  which  the  most  exemplary  are  not  al- 


DAY  DREAMS  107 

together  free,  it  gave  her  pleasure.  "Agatha  don't 
need  any  backbone  but  her  own,"  she  insisted. 

Mr.  DooHttle  straightened  his  sagging  figure  and 
tightened  his  Hnes.  "Wal,  if  the  young  man  should 
get  vi'Ient  any  time  just  call  on  me."  He  clucked  to 
his  horse  and  the  ramshackle  buggy  creaked  away. 

The  great  moments  of  life  come  and  go  while  we 
remain  oblivious.  As  Mr.  Doolittle  jogged  down  the 
shaded  drive,  he  said  to  himself  that  Zaida  Finch 
would  make  some  man  a  good  wife.  He  even  turned 
his  head  to  look  back,  and  the  prim  little  figure  hur- 
rying across  the  grass  seemed  to  his  elderly  eyes  to 
radiate  a  certain  maidenly  charm. 

All  unconscious  of  this  momentous  occurrence. 
Miss  Finch  carried  the  telegram  to  Agatha,  and  that 
young  woman  shared  her  apprehension,  though  for 
a  somewhat  different  reason. 

"It's  not  so  likely  to  mean  trouble  for  him  as  for 
me.  Perhaps  some  more  of  his  city  friends  are 
coming  to  visit  him.  If  they  do,  I  think  I'll  have 
an  attack  of  smallpox  and  quarantine  the  place." 
She  stood  up  extending  her  hand  for  the  message. 
"1  must  hunt  him  up  right  away  and  find  out." 

"You're  not  going  that  way,  are  you,  Agatha, 
with  your  hair  all  down  ?  You  look  like  a  crazy  girl." 


108  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"What's  the  difference?  Mr.  Forbes  won't  be 
scandalized,  because  he  can't  see  me.  And  the  birds 
and  the  squirrels  won't  mind.  It's  not  dry  enough 
to  put  up  yet." 

Telegram  in  hand,  she  started  up  the  slope  behind 
the  house.  Miss  Finch's  faded,  troubled  eyes  saw 
her  silhouetted  in  glowing  relief  against  the  intense 
blue  of  the  summer  sky,  and  then  lost  her  as  she 
passed  out  of  sight  over  the  brow  of  the  hill. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE   RESCUE 


FORBES  and  Howard  had  spent  the  morning  in 
the  open.  They  had  tramped  miles  under  the 
genial  sun,  had  eaten  a  luncheon  which  disproved 
the  accepted  theory  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  human 
stomach,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meal  had 
rested  in  the  shade,  Forbes  smoking,  and  Howard 
sprawled  upon  the  turf,  idly  watching  the  woolly 
clouds  that  like  a  flock  of  sheep  grazed  across  a  pas- 
ture of  luminous  blue. 

Suddenly  Howard  leaped  to  his  feet,  and  the  next 
moment  the  report  of  his  shotgun  shattered  the  lazy 
hush  of  the  summer  day.  To  Forbes'  secret  annoy- 
ance, his  nerves  betrayed  him  into  a  violent  start. 
He  had  not  been  aware  that  firearms  were  in- 
cluded among  his  young  companion's  impedimenta. 
"Hello!"  he  exclaimed  disapprovingly.  "What  are 
you  shooting  at  this  time  of  year,  boy?  You'll  get 
yourself  into  trouble  if  you're  not  careful." 

109 


110  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"It's  a  chicken  hawk.  They're  awful  thick  around 
here.  Much  as  ever  Ag — Miss  Kent  raised  any 
chickens  this  spring." 

"Oh!"  Forbes  subsided,  with  a  smile.  "Every 
season's  open  for  chicken  hawks,  I  suppose." 

"Well,  there's  one  robber  out  of  the  way,"  How- 
ard boasted.  "He  went  down  like  a  stone.  Say, 
Mr.  Forbes,  would  you  mind  staying  alone  a  few 
minutes  while  I  run  down  the  hill  and  see  if  I  can 
find  him?" 

"Go  ahead,  my  boy."  Forbes  smiled  again,  as 
Howard's  headlong  rush  told  how  promptly  he  had 
acted  on  the  permission.  Forbes'  mood  was  hope- 
ful, and  therefore  indulgent.  There  was  something 
tranquillizing  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  summer  day. 
It  was  easy  to  believe  in  his  ultimate  and  complete 
recovery,  and  even  that  Julia  would  wait  for  him 
instead  of  engaging  herself  to  one  of  the  men  who 
were  helping  to  make  her  summer  enjoyable.  Young 
Prendergast  was  the  rival  he  had  most  reason  to 
fear,  and  that  was  a  sore  spot  with  him,  for  Mur- 
ray Prendergast  had  his  father's  money  to  recom- 
mend him,  and  little  besides.  Forbes  was  ready  to 
defend  Julia  for  breaking  their  engagement,  but 
though  tortures  could  not  have  elicited  the  avowal, 


THE  RESCUE  lU 

in  his  heart  he  was  humiliated  by  the  possibility  that 
Julia  might  turn  from  him,  to  throw  herself  into 
Murray  Prendergast's  arms.  Eyes  or  no  eyes, 
Forbes  knew  himself  the  better  man. 

Yet  to-day  in  the  sunny  peace  of  this  Arcadia,  the 
thought  of  Prendergast  had  lost  its  power  to  sting 
him.  He  could  reflect  on  Julia's  love  of  admiration 
with  a  tolerant  smile.  Flirtation  was  the  feminine 
equivalent  of  masculine  wild  oats,  and  he  would  be 
a  fool  to  put  an  exaggerated  importance  on  a  beauti- 
ful girl's  innocent  coquetries.  Miss  Kent  was  hard 
on  Julia.  That  was  the  way  with  the  best  of  women. 
They  did  not  know  how  to  be  fair  to  one  another. 

"Bless  her  dear  heart  1"  Forbes  was  not  thinking 
of  Julia  now.  His  smile  had  become  tender.  "What 
a  champion  she  is !  She  never  can  see  but  one  side, 
and  that's  yours — if  you  happen  to  be  the  fellow, 
she  likes." 

His  fancies,  tenuous  as  the  smoke  of  his  cigar, 
wove  themselves  into  pictures  as  he  sat  dreaming. 
He  saw  himself  restored  to  health,  and  in  a  home  of 
his  own.  He  saw  Julia  beautiful  as  ever,  but  with 
matronly  dignity  replacing  her  girlish  charm.  And 
there  were  little  shapes  whisking  in  and  out  of  that 
dreamland,  creatures  half  sprite,  half  human,  and 


112  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

his  cigar  went  out  as  he  watched  their  capers.  An 
observer  would  have  noted  a  hint  of  pathos  in  his 
smile  as  well  as  a  whimsical  humor. 

He  roused  himself  from  his  long  reverie  to  won- 
der what  had  become  of  Howard.  Making  all  due 
allowance  for  the  ardor  of  the  chase,  Howard's  ab- 
sence had  been  protracted  beyond  all  reason.  Forbes 
whistled  long  and  shrilly,  shouted  Howard's  name, 
and  waited  with  growing  uneasiness.  He  could  only 
make  a  rough  estimate  of  the  time  that  had  elapsed 
since  the  boy's  departure,  but  he  knew  it  must  be 
nearer  an  hour  than  the  few  minutes  Howard  had 
asked  for.  And  it  was  not  like  Howard  to  forget 
him. 

He  had  no  way  of  measuring  the  time  as  it 
dragged  on,  but  he  ceased  at  length  to  assure  himself 
that  he  was  becoming  a  fidgety  old  woman,  and 
frankly  admitted  he  had  reason  for  alarm.  It  was 
impossible  to  explain  Howard's  continued  absence 
on  the  ground  of  boyish  thoughtlessness.  There  was 
another  and  possibly  a  sinister  explanation.  His 
heart  sickened  as  he  realized  that  Howard  might  be 
seriously  injured  and  with  no  aid  near.  As  the 
thought  suggested  itself,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  in 
furious  rebellion  against  his  helplessness. 


THE  RESCUE  113 

"I've  got  to  get  to  the  road  somehow.  Then  I 
can  hail  the  first  wagon  that  passes,  and  send  some 
one  over  here  to  look  for  that  boy."  He  realized 
that  the  thing  was  simpler  in  the  statement  than  in 
the  doing.  The  last  road  they  had  crossed  was  at 
least  half  a  mile  from  where  he  stood,  and  to  grope 
his  way  unguided  over  half  a  mile  of  open  country 
was  a  desperate  undertaking.  He  was  not  even  sure 
of  the  points  of  the  compass. 

Forbes  was  angry  to  find  himself  trembling.  He 
took  a  stronger  grip  upon  his  self-control,  and 
racked  his  brain  for  any  information  that  would  be 
of  service.  Howard  had  spoken  of  a  south  wind 
that  morning  and  Forbes  was  under  the  impression 
that  when  they  returned  home  from  their  jaunts  up 
into  the  hills,  they  walked  toward  the  setting  sun. 
He  wet  his  finger  and  held  it  up  to  test  the  direction 
of  the  breeze.  He  was  likely  to  go  wrong,  he  knew, 
but  anything  was  better  than  inactivity. 

Stumblingly  and  with  his  hands  outstretched,  he 
started  on  his  way.  His  progress  was  slow.  At 
first  he  was  continually  halted  by  imaginary  ob- 
stacles from  which  he  shrank  till  his  groping  hands 
convinced  him  that  the  way  was  clear.  Resolving 
on  bolder  tactics,  he  marched  along  at  a  swinging 


114'  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

pace  till  a  collision  with  a  stalwart  pine  sent  him 
reeling  back,  gasping  and  half  stunned.  Again  he 
tried  caution  and  after  an  interminable  half-hour 
abandoned  it,  as  intolerably  slow.  He  picked  up  a 
rotting  branch  over  which  he  had  stumbled,  and 
>vaving  this  before  him  to  make  sure  that  no  tree 
barred  his  way,  he  found  himself  making  very 
creditable  speed  for  a  blind  man  without  a  guide. 

After  a  little,  again  he  halted,  thinking  he  heard 
a  faint,  wailing  cry.  He  strained  his  ears,  his  heart 
thumping.  "Howard!"  he  shouted.  "Howard!" 
He  wondered  if  his  nerves  were  playing  him  a  trick, 
or  whether  he  really  did  hear  a  second  time,  that 
faint  sound  of  distress.  He  started  on  at  a  reckless 
pace,  brandishing  his  stick  before  him,  and  occasion- 
ally shouting  Howard's  name. 

So  utterly  had  the  thought  of  his  own  safety 
passed  from  his  mind  that  a  second  collision  was 
only  to  be  expected.  But  this  time  it  was  not  a  tree, 
whose  impact  sent  him  staggering  backward,  but  a 
human  form.  Involuntarily  he  dropped  his  stick, 
catching  at  the  nearest  object  to  save  himself,  and 
was  aware  that  two  hands  had  seized  him  in  a 
clutch  as  desperate  as  his  own.  For  a  moment  they 
clung  together  in  an  embrace  like  the  locked  clasp 


THE  RESCUE  115 

of  two  drowning  swimmers.  Then  a  voice  deep 
down  in  Forbes'  consciousness  said,  "Good  God, 
it's  a  woman." 

As  his  head  steadied  he  knew  fie  was  not  mis- 
taken. There  was  a  smothering  quantity  of  hair 
for  one  thing  and  it  seemed  to  be  everywhere  at 
once.  When  he  moved  just  a  httle  to  get  away  from 
it,  he  put  his  cheek  against  another  cheek  of  ex- 
quisite smoothness.  Surprise  rendered  him  inca- 
pable of  moving,  and  standing  like  a  statue,  he  made 
other  interesting  discoveries.  The  woman  in  his 
arms  was  breathing  in  long-drawn  gasps  like  sobs. 
He  could  feel  the  convulsive  straining  of  her  chest 
against  his,  as  her  breath  came  and  went.  Under 
his  hand  her  heart  plunged  like  some  frantic  crea- 
ture in  a  trap.  Then  he  realized  that  she  was  trying 
to  speak. 

'*You  fool,"  she  could  only  whisper  it,  with  that 
strange  sobbing  breath.  "You  fool!  Oh,  you 
fool!" 

"My  dear  girl!"  Forbes  remonstrated.  He  could 
not  have  told  why  he  was  so  sure  of  the  fitness  of  this 
form  of  address,  except  that  the  curves  of  the  pliant 
body,  that  lay  limp  against  his  heart,  were  somehow 
eloquent  of  youth.   "I  don't  understand  you." 


116  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

His  protest  had  an  immediate  and  in  some  re- 
spects an  unwelcome  effect.  At  once  her  relaxed 
form  stiffened  and  withdrew  from  his  arms.  A 
strand  of  hair  rasped  across  his  cheek  producing  a 
curious  tingling  like  a  mild  electric  shock.  But  she 
had  not  gone  far,  for  he  could  distinctly  hear  her 
difficult  breathing. 

"You  were  walking  to  your  death.  In  another 
minute  you  would  have  been  over  the  cliff." 

"Is  it  possible!"  No  normal  man  can  escape 
death  by  a  hair's  breadth  and  remain  unmoved. 
Forbes'  face  paled.  For  a  moment  he  was  intensely 
conscious  of  the  myriad  fragrances  steeped  in  the 
sunny  air,  of  the  myriad  sounds,  significant  of  teem- 
ing life.    But  he  had  no  time  to  waste  on  himself. 

"I  knew  I  ran  a  risk  but  it  was  necessary.  As  you 
see  I  am  blind,  and  my  attendant,  a  young  fellow 
named  Sheldon,  left  me  for  a  few  minutes  while  he 
hunted  for  a  hawk  he  had  shot.  That  must  have 
been  two  hours  ago.    I'm  afraid  the  boy  is  hurt." 

She  murmured  something  he  failed  to  understand 
and  he  did  not  ask  her  to  repeat  it.  "As  soon  as  you 
are  able  to  walk,  please  go  somewhere  and  get  help. 
He  may  be  seriously  injured." 

"I  said  he  was  coming — I  see — him  coming."  She 


THE  RESCUE  117 

still  whispered  but  her  breathing  was  obviously  less 
painful. 

"Howard  coming?  Do  you  mean  Howard?" 

"Yes." 

"Are  you  sure  you  know  him  ?" 

"Yes." 

"Does  he  seem  to  be  hurt  ?" 

"Not  that  I  can  see — he's  running." 

"Thank  God!"  Forbes  exclaimed.  He  had  time 
now  to  think  of  himself  and  his  deliverer.  He  took 
a  step  nearer  her,  and  it  seemed  to  him,  though  he 
could  not  be  sure,  that  she  drew  back  a  little. 

"As  I  understand  it,  you  saw  me  from  a  distance, 
and  realized  I  was  in  danger.  And  you  ran  to  help 
me. 

"Yes."  The  monosyllable  was  hardly  more  than 
a  breath. 

"I  thought  I  heard  a  cry  once.    Did  you  call  ?" 

"I  tried — to.  Running  up  hill — I  didn't — have 
breath." 

There  was  a  hysterical  catch  in  her  voice.  Forbes 
seized  her  by  the  arm.  "Oh,  you're  crying.  Please 
don't." 

"I'm  not."  She  sobbed  aloud  as  she  denied  the 
charge  and  continued  to  sob  to  his  immense  distress. 


118  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

He  found  her  hand  and  patted  it  soothingly  as  if  she 
had  been  a  child. 

"Poor  girl !  I  can  see  how  unnerving  all  this  has 
been.  But  won't  it  help  a  little  if  you  remember  that 
you've  saved  my  life?" 

"Oh,  don't!   Don't!" 

"I'm  afraid  you'll  have  to  let  me  say  it,  but  I'll 
wait  till  another  time  if  you'd  rather.  Please  tell  me 
your  name.'- 

*lt  d— doesn't  matter." 

"It  matters  a  great  deal  to  me.  It  isn't  every  day, 
you  know,  that  a  man  has  his  life  saved  by  a  beauti- 
ful girl."  He  felt  singularly  secure  regarding  his 
adjective.  "And  of  course  I  want  to  know  who  you 
are. 

She  wrenched  her  hand  away  with  disconcerting 
energy.  "It — doesn't  matter  about  me,"  she  said  as 
well  as  she  could  for  weeping.  "But  don't  take  such 
risks  again.    Good-by." 

"Now  this  is  positively  absurd,"  exclaimed  Forbes 
in  real  annoyance.  "You've  done  me  a  tremendous 
service,  the  biggest  one  human  being  can  do  another, 
and  I'm  not  the  sort  of  man  to  remain  ignorant  of 
my  benefactress.  I  want  a  chance  to  show  that  I'm 
not  unappreciative." 


THE  RESCUE  119 

Silence ! 

"Are  you  there  ?"  Forbes  demanded  sharply.  So 
vivid  and  illuminating  were  his  recollections  of  the 
Woman  his  arms  had  enfolded  that  it  seemed  prepos- 
terous he  should  never  know  how  to  address  her. 

Continued  silence. 

Forbes  bit  his  lip  and  waited.  And  behind  his 
back,  a  singular  pantomime  was  being  enacted.  A 
young  woman  whose  heavy  red  hair  fell  about  her 
like  a  cloak,  ran  into  the  arms  of  a  breathless  boy 
approaching  from  the  opposite  direction.  She  put 
her  lips  to  his  ear  and  whispered,  "Don't  tell  him 
who  I  am." 

"All  right,  but  what's  the  matter,  Aggie  ?  What 
are  you  crying  for?" 

"Never  mind.  Nothing.  Don't  tell  him  my 
name/' 

"But  what  if  He  asks  me?" 

"Don't  tell  him,  that's  all."  She  drew  herself 
away  from  him  and  started  by  a  circuitous  route  for 
home.  Howard  approached  his  waiting  employer 
with  3.  new  perplexity  superimposed  on  his  former 
perturbation. 

"Mr.  Forbes,  I  don't  know  what  you'll  think  of 
me — but  down  there  I  ran  into  the  game  warden." 


120  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Oh,  did  you !"  Forbes'  attitude  was  a  trifle  ab- 
sent-minded.   "Then  you  weren't  hurt.'* 

"No,  sir,  I'm  all  right.  But  he'd  got  hold  of  a 
partridge  some  one  had  shot  and  he  was  bound  I'd 
done  it.  And  he  made  me  go  along  with  him  and  I 
thought  I  would  never  get  away." 

Howard's  voice  showed  strain.  Forbes'  groping 
hand  found  his  shoulder  and  patted  it. 

"All  right,  old  man.  No  harm's  done.  I  own  I 
was  anxious  when  you  didn't  show  up,  but  no 
harm's  done." 

"Are  you  ready  to  go  home  now,  Mr.  Forbes? 
It's  nearly  four  o'clock." 

"Yes,  we'd  better  go."  Forbes  took  the  boy's  arm. 
"By  the  way,  Howard,  did  you  see  a  girl  talking 
with  me  a  few  minutes  ago?" 

"Ye — es,  I  saw  her."  Howard's  manner  betrayed 
reluctance, 

"What  is  her  name  ?" 

An  incomprehensible  silence  followed.  Forbes  re- 
peated the  question  with  more  than  his  customary 
peremptoriness. 

"I — I  don't  think  I  can  tell  you,  Mr.  Forbes." 

"Do  you  mean  you  don't  know  ?" 


THE  RESCUE  121 

Howard  was  a  truthful  boy.  "Yes,  I  know  it," 
he  replied  hesitatingly.  "But  she" — a  sudden  in- 
spiration came  to  his  aid — "Miss  Kent  don't  want 
me  to  talk  about  her." 

"I  shall  ask  Miss  Kent  myself,"  Forbes  rejoined 
coldly. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Howard,  brightening.  "That 
would  be  better."  He  felt  that  it  really  was  up  to 
Aggie  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty  as  best  she  could. 
It  was  all  very  well  to  say  to  a  fellow  that  he  was 
not  to  tell  a  certain  thing,  but  she  didn't  take  into 
account  that  he  would  feel  like  a  fool  when  he  was 
asked  a  plain  question. 

As  it  proved,  however,  Forbes  did  not  appeal  to 
Miss  Kent  for  enlightenment.  As  they  neared  the 
house  Howard  proved  the  youthful  resilience  of  his 
spirits  by  making  a  little  joke.  "It's  a  good  thing 
you're  not  married,,  Mr.  Forbes." 

Forbes  did  not  agree  with  him,  but  he  forced  him- 
self to  smile  amiably,  and  ask  the  reason  for  the 
conjecture. 

"Because  there's  a  long  red  hair  on  your  coat  coU 
lar." 

Forbes  saw  the  point  and  much  besides.    Under- 


122  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

standing  came  in  a  flood.  The  girl  was  Hephzibah, 
of  course,  poor  unfortunate  Hephzibah,  ashamed 
even  to  give  her  name  and  yet  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning,  he  was  strangely  sure.  Without  see- 
ing it,  he  had  felt  the  spell  of  her  beauty,  that  beauty 
that  had  enthralled  Warren.  As  he  thought  of  his 
friend,  Forbes  was  instantly  convinced  that  he  had 
too  readily  yielded  to  Miss  Kent's  insistence,  regard- 
ing Warren's  offer.  He  even  felt  a  certain  tem- 
pered irritation  with  his  old  friend  for  having  taken 
on  herself  the  responsibility  of  deciding  for  another 
so  vital  a  matter.  Now  that  the  girl  had  saved  his 
life  it  was  unthinkable  that  he  should  leave  her  to 
her  fate  just  because  of  an  old-fashioned  theory 
that  there  was  no  future  for  a  woman  who  had  once 
gone  wrong. 

He  felt  so  strongly  on  the  subject  that  he  might 
have  spoken  his  mind  to  Miss  Kent  on  reaching 
home  had  he  been  given  the  opportunity.  But  Zaida 
Finch  met  him  with  the  information  that  Miss  Kent 
had  gone  to  bed  with  a  severe  headache,  and  that  a 
telegram  had  come  for  him  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon.    She  hoped  it  was  not  bad  news. 

The  telegram  proved  to  be  from  Forbes*  physi- 
cian, who  was  going  away  for  his  vacation,  and 


THE  RESCUE  123 

wished  to  look  his  patient  over  before  leaving.  It 
gave  him  his  choice  of  coming  to  the  city  on 
Wednesday  or  Thursday,  and  Forbes  chose  Wednes- 
day. He  had  decided  to  waste  no  time  before  hav- 
ing a  talk  with  Warren. 


CHAPTER  IX 

AN    EMBARRASSMENT   Of   RICHES 

NO  HUMAN  being  expects  to  die  and  all  ex- 
pect to  marry.  Observation  continually 
proves  the  groundlessness  of  one  or  both  of  these 
anticipations,  without  altering  the  attitude  of  the 
survivors.  In  the  background  of  the  consciousness 
of  the  most  confirmed  bachelor  or  spinster,  stands 
the  shadowy  form  of  the  possible  wife  or  the  pos- 
sible husband. 

Mr.  James  Doolittle,  at  fifty-five,  had  no  idea  of 
escaping  the  matrimonial  yoke.  He  thought  of  him- 
self always  as  an  eligible  young  fellow,  waiting  for 
the  right  girl  to  come  along.  On  two  or  three  oc- 
casions earlier  in  life  he  had  temporarily  congrat- 
ulated himself  on  finding  the  right  girl,  but  as  the 
ladies  in  question  had  disagreed  with  him,  there  had 
been  no  escape  f  rorn  the  conclusion  that  he  was  mis- 
taken. These  disappointments  he  had  accepted  with 
an   edifying   equanimity,    reminding   himself    that 

124 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       125 

there  were  still  as  good  fish  in  the  sea  as  had  ever 
graced  a  frying  pan. 

Just  why,  on  a  certain  summer  afternoon,  Jim's 
vague  and  groping  expectations  should  suddenly 
have  focused  upon  Zaida  Finch,  and  why  her  fa- 
mihar,  faded  features  and  diminutive,  gnome-like 
body  should  have  taken  on  the  quality  of  allurement, 
is  one  of  the  mysteries  which  will  remain  a  mystery 
when  the  riddle  of  perpetual  motion  has  been  solved. 
As  the  memory  of  Miss  Finch  hurrying  across  the 
grass  continually  recurred  to  him,  Jim  said  to  him- 
self that  though  a  trifle  more  flesh  would  not  hurt 
her,  she  was  a  cute  little  thing.  And  forthwith  he 
was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  youthful  irresponsibil- 
ity, flatly  contradicting  the  testimony  of  the  family 
Bible. 

Yet  it  was  with  no  very  definite  purpose  in  his 
mind  that  on  the  Wednesday  following  his  brief 
call  at  Oak  Knoll,  Mr.  Doolittle  resolved  on  a  sec- 
ond visit.  Even  incipient  love  is  fertile  in  excuses. 
He  argued  that  the  most  elementary  sense  of  cour- 
tesy demanded  his  ascertaining  the  nature  of  the 
telegram  of  which  he  had  been  the  bearer,  and  ex- 
tending his  sympathy  in  case  it  had  brought  bad 
news.     With  the  lack  of  candor  with  himself,  fre- 


126  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

quently  manifested  by  wiser  men  in  his  condition, 
Mr.  Doolittle  failed  to  explain  the  fact  that  he  as- 
sumed for  the  call  the  necktie  which  for  thirty 
years  he  had  worn  on  dress  occasions,  hand-painted 
daisies  on  a  pink  background.  The  silk  was  faded 
now  and  the  daisies  had  lost  much  of  their  original 
perky  luster,  but  with  the  hand-painted  necktie  tied 
under  his  chin,  Mr.  Doolittle  felt  himself  a  figure 
to  appeal  to  the  exacting  feminine  taste. 

His  state  of  mind  pleasantly  indeterminate,  Mr. 
Doolittle  jogged  through  the  dust  in  the  direction 
of  Oak  Knoll.  As  yet  his  ardor  had  not  reached 
the  point  where  the  leisurely  pace  of  the  gray  nag 
got  on  his  nerves.  The  droning  peace  of  the  mid- 
summer worl4  was  reflected  in  the  serenity  of  his 
spirit.  But  as  he  neared  Oak  Knoll,  the  sound  of 
wheels  halted  him  at  the  foot  of  the  long  driveway, 
and  waiting  there,  some  intuition  ruffled  the  pla- 
cidity of  his  mood,  and  left  him  alert  and  uneasy. 

Jim  knew  his  suspicion  justified  when  suddenly 
upon  his  startled  and  hostile  vision  emerged  another 
buggy,  smarter  than  his  own,  and  newly  washed. 
The  driver,  Deacon  Wiggins,  looked  up  from  the 
contemplation  of  his  sorrel  mare  to  bark  a  gruff 
greeting,  "Afternoon,  Jim." 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       127 

Deacon  Wiggins  was  eminently  a  marrying  man. 
He  had  married  early,  and  as  often  as  a  complacent 
Providence,  assisted  by  pneumonia,  heart  disease 
and  typhoid,  had  permitted.  A  rather  rusty  band 
of  crepe  around  his  hat,  preserved  with  commenda- 
ble thrift  from  one  bereavement  to  another,  bore 
witness  to  his  latest  loss  some  three  months  earlier. 
And  with  a  lover's  quick  suspicion,  Mr.  Doolittle 
leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  the  deacon's  errand  to 
Oak  Knoll  was  the  same  as  his  own,  that  in  his  eyes, 
too,  Zaida  Finch  had  found  favor.  His  voice  rasp- 
ing as  he  realized  the  insatiable  greed  of  some  of 
his  sex,  Jim  Doolittle  returned  the  deacon's  greeting 
with  a  sneering,  "Wasn't  looking  to  see  you  here." 

Deacon  Wiggins  at  once  drew  rein.  His  errand 
had  not  been  a  sentimental  one.  He  had  called  to 
collect  from  Miss  Finch  the  amount  of  her  very 
modest  subscription  to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions, 
and  had  been  met  by  Phemie  with  the  news  that  the 
blind  boarder  and  Howard  had  gone  to  the  city  on 
the  early  train,  and  that  the  ladies  of  the  family 
were  celebrating  by  spending  the  day  with  friends. 
Whereupon  the  deacon  had  replied  that  he  would 
call  again,  and  had  gone  his  way  unruffled,  till 
halted  by  Doolittle's  challenge.     Though  Deacon 


128  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Wiggins  was  well  past  fifty  and  had  been  thrice 
married,  he  had  not  outgrown  that  instinct  which 
impels  two  young  cockerels  to  assault  each  other 
with  murderous  intent. 

"You  wasn't  looking  to  see  me,  eh?"  repeated 
Deacon  Wiggins,  ponderously  sarcastic.  "Well,  I 
don't  know  as  that  matters,  Jim,  as  long  as  I  didn't 
come  for  the  sake  of  seeing  you." 

Doolittle  reddened  violently.  "No,  it's  plain 
enough  what  you've  come  for." 

The  note  of  unreasonable  jealousy  was  unmis- 
takable. And  while  the  deacon  was  quite  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  other's  meaning,  all  his  masculine  dig- 
nity was  in  arms  over  the  realization  that  another 
man  was  attempting  interference  with  his  doing  as 
he  pleased.  "Whether  I  came  for  one  thing  or  an- 
other," he  retorted,  "I  don't  have  to  ask  your  leave." 

"Must  make  Zaida  Finch  feel  terrible  proud  to 
know  you  are  thinking  of  her  for  Number  Four." 

The  introduction  of  Miss  Finch's  name  into  the 
conversation  took  the  deacon  by  surprise,  but  he 
made  no  attempt  to  allay  the  groundless  suspicion. 
Instead  he  replied,  "A  good  many  women  would 
rather  be  Number  Four  with  some  men  than  Num- 
ber One  with  others  I  could  mention."    The  mag- 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       129 

nanimity  which  kept  him  from  giving  names  was 
clearly  a  pretense,  for  his  significant  smile  pointed 
his  meaning  unmistakably. 

"There's  no  accounting  for  tastes,"  acknowledged 
Mr.  Doolittle,  trans fonned  by  his  fury  to  an  un- 
becoming turkey  red.  "But  sometimes  folks  have 
better  taste  than  we  give  'em  credit  for." 

The  deacon's  smile  was  as  belligerent  as  a  blow. 

"You're  right  there,  Jim.  You're  right.  I've  al- 
ways said  that  the  sort  of  men  who  die  old  bachelors 
show  the  women  ain't  such  fools  as  some  folks  take 
'em  to  be.'* 

He  clucked  to  his  horse  and  drove  on.  Doolittle, 
breathing  hard  and  unable  to  think  of  a  sufficiently 
crushing  rejoinder  to  this  final  insult,  waited  till  the 
deacon  was  out  of  sight  before  turning  up  the  drive. 
To  him  Phemie  repeated  her  story  of  the  blind 
boarder's  departure  for  the  city,  escorted  by  How- 
ard, and  the  consequent  gadding  of  the  ladies  of  the 
family. 

Mr.  Doolittle  drew  a  long  breath  as  he  realized 
that  the  fell  designs  of  Deacon  AViggins  had  been 
temporarily  foiled.  He  was  not  the  man,  however, 
to  underestimate  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  His 
rival  was  notable  for  prompt  action,  as  his  previous 


130  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

marriages  had  abundantly  proved.  Left  to  himself, 
Doolittle  might  have  meandered  through  several 
years  of  more  or  less  ardent  courtship,  before  reach- 
ing the  point  of  asking  Miss  Finch  to  change  her 
name,  if  indeed,  he  ever  reached  it.  But  the  cer- 
tainty that  Deacon  Wiggins  would  waste  no  time  in 
such  preliminaries  forced  him  to  realize  that  he,  too, 
must  act  with  promptness,  or  resign  himself  to  loss. 
Jim's  vague  intention  became  definite  in  view  of  the 
purposes  with  which  he  credited  the  deacon.  With 
mingled  sorrow  and  indignation  he  wondered  at  the 
man's  grasping  nature. 

Meanwhile  Deacon  Wiggins,  jogging  hortieward, 
was  undergoing  a  very  similar  psychological  experi- 
ence. The  most  pronounced  trait  in  the  deacon's 
character  was  his  obstinacy.  He  was  an  ardent 
Democrat,  for  the  reason,  it  was  generally  believed, 
that  he  lived  in  a  community  of  devout  Republicans, 
He  had  been  drawn  irresistibly  to  the  Congregation- 
alist  body  because,  as  his  acquaintances  were  cer- 
tain, he  sprang  from  Methodist  stock.  In  all  his 
dealings  Deacon  Wiggins  could  be  safely  counted 
on  to  take  the  off-side.  But  it  had  been  long,  indeed, 
since  anything  had  so  whetted  his  native  stubborn- 
ness as  his  brief  interview  with  James  Doolittle. 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       131 

In  a  general  sense  it  might  be  said  that  Deacon 
Wiggins  was  looking  for  a  wife.  He  was  always 
looking  for  a  wife  in  those  interruptions  to  his 
marital  bliss,  whose  brevity  shocked  the  finer  sen- 
sibilities of  Mr.  Doolittle.  But  at  present  his  at- 
titude was  one  of  critical  observance  rather  than 
active  search.  Mentally  he  had  inventoried  the  at- 
tractions of  several  unattached  females  of  the  com- 
munity, though  the  thought  of  Zaida  Finch,  as  de- 
signed by  Providence  to  solace  his  loneliness,  had 
never  crossed  his  mind.  But  now  that  Doolittle's 
indiscreet  opposition  had  turned  his  thoughts  in  her 
direction,  Deacon  Wiggins  said  to  himself  that  he 
might  go  further  and  fare  worse.  Miss  Finch  was 
a  fine  woman,  a  little  undersized  and  scrawny  for 
his  taste,  but  a  woman  of  good  temper  and  good 
principles,  eminently  qualified  to  make  a  satisfactory 
wife.  Seemingly  the  newly-awakened  ardor  of  Jim 
Doolittle  was  like  a  searchlight,  illuminating  virtues 
hitherto  unnoticed.  The  deacon  reached  for  his 
whip  and  surprised  the  sorrel  mare  by  a  cut  across 
the  flank.    Mentally  he  had  crossed  his  Rubicon. 

Miss  Finch,  placidly  ignorant  of  the  designs  of 
Destiny,  had  passed  a  pleasant  day.  She  had  found 
it  an  immense  relief  to  have  Mr.  Forbes  away,  even 


132  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

for  twenty-four  hours,  for  she  never  lost  the  sense 
of  walking  amid  pitfalls  while  he  was  in  the  house. 
Agatha,  in  the  rebound  from  the  necessity  of  acting 
the  role  of  an  elderly  maiden  lady,  had  been  more 
whimsically  childish  than  usual,  and  had  imparted  to 
her  faded  little  friend  something  of  her  own  irre- 
sponsibility. Accordingly  Miss  Finch  passed  a  pleas- 
ant day,  and  a  peaceful  night,  and  woke  in  the  morn- 
ing quite  unprepared  for  what  fate  had  in  store. 

In  Forbes'  absence,  the  arrival  of  the  Free  De- 
livery was  only  an  ordinary  incident  in  the  day's 
routine.  Miss  Finch  went  down  the  drive  to  get  the 
mail  a  half-hour  or  so  after  the  wagon  had  passed. 
And  when  in  another  half-hour  it  occurred  to 
Agatha  to  inquire  as  to  the  results  of  that  expedi- 
tion, it  took  her  a  good  five  minutes  to  locate  Miss 
Finch.  At  length  her  search  brought  her  to  a 
weather-beaten  bench  under  the  trees,  where  Miss 
Finch  had  seated  herself  as  if  to  rest  from  the 
fatigue  of  the  walk  up  the  drive.  At  her  feet  were 
scattered  various  items  of  mail,  which  had  slid  off 
her  lap  in  the  stress  of  her  emotions  and  lay  on  the 
grass  unnoticed. 

"Well,  Fritz,  you  must  have  found  some  absorb- 
ing reading,"  Agatha  began.    "I've  screamed  myself 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       133 

hoarse  calling  you."  She  paused,  regarding  her  old 
friend  with  sudden  concern.  Miss  Finch's  face  was 
singularly  flushed  and  her  pupils  dilated  like  those 
of  a  sleep-walker.  In  either  hand  she  clutched  a 
letter. 

"Fritz,  what  it  is?"  Agatha  exclaimed  in  real 
alarm.     "Aren't  you  feeling  well?" 

Much  to  her  relief,  Miss  Finch's  head  turned  in 
her  direction.  Up  to  this  time  she  had  seemed  ob- 
livious to  her  presence. 

"Yes,  I  feel  all  right,  Agatha,"  she  replied,  her 
voice  dreamy  and  unnatural.  "I — I'm  going  to  be 
married." 

The  violence  of  Agatha's  start  indicated  an  al- 
most uncomplimentary  incredulity, 

"You  are — what  did  you  say,  Fritz?" 

"I'm — I'm  going  to  be  married." 

"For  heaven's  sake !  Who  is  it?" 

Miss  Finch's  manner  lost  something  of  its  assur- 
ance. 

"I  haven't  quite — made  up  my  mind." 

Agatha's  expression  of  astonishment  changed 
quickly  to  consternation.  She  came  close  to  the  lit- 
tle lady,  slipping  a  hand  through  her  arm. 

"Fritz,  dear,  hadn't  you  better  come  to  the  house 


134  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

and  lie  down?  The  sun  is  awfully  hot,  and  you 
shouldn't  have  gone  out  without  a  hat."  She  studied 
Miss  Finch's  unnatural  color  with  a  sinking  heart. 
Was  it  a  touch  of  the  sun  or  something  worse? 

Miss  Finch,  though  perfectly  aware  of  the  nature 
of  Agatha's  apprehensions,  showed  no  resentment. 
Indeed  the  difficulty  she  had  experienced  in  com- 
bating her  own  incredulity  enabled  her  to  sympa- 
thize with  her  young  friend's  perplexity. 

"When  I  say  I  haven't  made  up  my  mind,  I  mean 
I  haven't  decided  which  one  to  marry." 

"Yes,  I  see,  Fritz.  Now  let's  go  to  the  house. 
Just  lean  on  me."  Phemie  would  have  to  go  for  the 
doctor,  Agatha  decided.  She  herself  would  not  dare 
to  leave. 

"If  you  don't  believe  me,"  exclaimed  Miss  Finch, 
a  sense  of  injury  at  last  making  itself  manifest  in 
her  voice,  "you  can  read  the  letters  for  yourself." 

Agatha  snatched  the  extended  missive,  thankful 
for  anything  that  would  throw  light  on  Miss  Finch's 
singular  hallucination.  Her  stubborn  incredulity 
received  its  first  shock  when  she  saw  Miss  Finch's 
name  written  across  the  yellow  envelope  in  an  un- 
mistakably masculine  hand.  The  contents  of  the 
letter  completed  her  undoing. 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       135 

"Miss  Zaida  Finch  : 

"Dear  Friend — I  have  always  believed  the  truth 
of  those  words  of  Scripture  that  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone.  (Gen.  2  :18.)  Three  dear  compan- 
ions have  I  taken  to  myself  only  to  yield  them  to 
the  cold  and  silent  tomb.  Have  you  ever  thought  of 
changing  your  state?  You  are  so  much  in  my 
thoughts  that  it  seems  a  leading  to  show  that  it  is 
you  who  should  fill  the  place  of  my  three  lost  com- 
panions, till  you,  too,  shall  be  called  from  battle  to 
reward. 

"I  hope  you  will  make  this  matter  a  subject  of 
prayer,  and  will  see  your  way  clear  to  accept  me  as 
your  husband.  Write  me  how  you  feel  about  it.  I 
enclose  stamp.  Yours  truly, 

"Hiram  L.  Wiggins." 

Agatha  read  the  unusual  document  breathlessly, 
too  relieved  by  the  discovery  that  Miss  Finch's  mind 
was  not  seriously  affected  to  appreciate  to  the  full 
the  unique  literary  quality  of  the  composition.  Dea- 
con Wiggins  actually  was  proffering  Miss  Finch 
his  hand  and  so  much  of  his  heart  as  had  not  been 
consigned  to  the  tomb  along  with  the  three  deceased 
ladies  who  had  borne  his  name.  Agatha's  impres- 
sions of  the  deacon  were  vaguely  hostile,  yet  she 
realized  that  from  Miss  Finch's  standpoint,  the  oc- 
casion called  for  congratulations.  Agatha  was  not 
unaware  of  the  little  spinster's  attitude  of  wistful 


136  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

anticipation  where  matrimony  was  concerned.  And 
though  it  was  difficult  to  think  of  Deacon  Wiggins 
as  the  reahzation  of  a  romantic  dream,  she  warned 
herself  that  she  must  not  be  a  kill- joy. 

"I'm  sure,  Fritz,"  Agatha  said,  with  no  trace  of 
her  usual  mischief,  "that  the  deacon  will  be  very 
fortunate  if  you  decide — "  She  checked  herself,  for 
Miss  Finch  was  extending  a  second  letter. 

"For  the  love  of  Mike,"  Agatha  gasped,  borrow- 
ing from  Howard's  vocabulary  as  her  own  seemed 
inadequate.     "You  don't  mean  there's  another?" 

"Yes,  there  are  two,  Agatha,"  said  Miss  Finch, 
and  under  the  circumstances  her  flitting  expression 
of  complacency  was  quite  excusable. 

The  dreadful  suspicion  flashing  through  Agatha's 
mind,  that  the  guileless  Miss  Finch  had  been  made 
the  butt  of  a  peculiarly  obnoxious  practical  joke, 
vanished  as  she  read  Jim  Doolittle's  letter.  It  was 
too  characteristic  for  her  to  doubt  its  authorship. 

"Dear  Zaida  : 

"Please  excuse  me  calling  you  Zaida,  for  as  Zaida 
you  are  enshrined  in  my  thoughts,  and  I  think  of 
you  very  often  when  I  am  sad  and  lonely  and  I  wish 
I  had  a  wife  like  you  to  cheer  me,  and  to  be  a  help- 
meet to  me  like  the  Bible  says,  and  while  I  have  not 
married  again  and  again  like  some  people  I  could 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       137 

name  it  has  not  been  because  I  do  not  have  a  high 
opinion  of  women.  And  if  I  should  be  left  alone  I 
should  not  go  looking  for  some  one  to  take  your 
place  right  away,  for  with  me  to  love  once  is  to  love 
always,  and,  dear  Zaida,  my  heart  beats  for  you 
alone.  Yours  truly, 

"James  Doolittle." 

Agatha  was  seized  with  a  paroxysm  of  coughing, 
the  businesslike  conclusion  of  the  letter  seeming 
decidedly  inconsistent  with  its  impassioned  prelude. 
Then,  recovering  herself,  she  went  over  to  Miss 
Finch  and  kissed  her. 

"Well,  Fritz,  you're  a  lot  too  good  for  either  one, 
but  women  are,  as  a  rule.    Which  is  it  to  be?" 

Miss  Finch  looked  down  at  her  first  love-letters 
with  an  anxious  expression,  hardly  befitting  the  oc- 
casion. 

"Well,  Agatha,  I'm  not  sure.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  sentiment  in  Mr.  Doolittle's  letter.  It's  al- 
most poetical  in  spots.  I  wouldn't  have  thought  he 
had  so  much  poetry  in  him?" 

"Nor  I,"  admitted  Agatha. 

"But  the  deacon's  letter  shows  a  beautiful  re- 
ligious spirit,  and  when  you  are  choosing  a  husband 
you  have  to  think  of  the  things  that  are  really  im- 
portant." 


13S  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"The  deacon  is  better  off  than  Mr.  Doolittle/' 
suggested  Agatha.  "Though  I've  always  heard  he 
was  incHned  to  be  close." 

*T  wouldn't  let  such  things  weigh  with  me, 
Agatha.  I  can't  imagine  marrying  a  man  because 
he  had  more  money  than  somebody  else.  It's  what 
a  man  is  himself  that  counts  with  me." 

"Then  I  suppose  it's  the  deacon,"  said  Agatha, 
with  youth's  characteristic  readiness  to  jump  at  con- 
clusions. 

"I  don't  know,  I'm  sure.  Don't  hurry  a  body  so, 
Agatha."  Miss  Finch  spoke  more  sharply  than  was 
her  wont.  "If  you  were  picking  out  a  husband  at 
my  time  of  life,  you  wouldn't  want  to  be  rushed  so 
that,  like  enough,  you'd  pick  the  wrong  man." 

Agatha  shook  her  head,  "No,  Fritz,  if  I  ever  be- 
came such  a  heart-breaker  that  I  had  a  batch  of 
proposals  in  a  single  mail,  I'd  take  as  long  as  I 
could  to  make  up  my  mind.  I'd  make  the  sweetness 
last  like  an  all-day  sucker." 

Miss  Finch's  brief  irritation  vanished  as  she 
heard  herself  referred  to  as  a  heart-breaker.  She 
blushed  not  unl^ecomingly. 

"The  names  might  help  you  in  making  up  your 
mind,"   continued  Agatha,  bent  on  giving  all   the 


EMBARRASSMENT  OF  RICHES       139 

assistance  in  her  power.  "Which  is  the  more — what 
is  that  word — melHfluous  in  your  ears,  Mrs.  Wig- 
gins, Mrs.  Deacon  Wiggins,  or  Mrs.  James  Doo- 
little?" 

"I'm  afraid  you're  not  as  serious-minded  as  you 
ought  to  be,  Agatha,"  chided  Miss  Finch.  "Mar-n 
riage  is  'most  anything  you  Hke  except  a  joke,  and 
you  can't  make  a  joke  of  it,  no  matter  how  hard 
you  try."  As  she  moved  toward  the  house  with 
her  two  letters,  leaving  Agatha  to  collect  the  widely 
scattered  mail,  her  face  wore  a  troubled,  anxious 
look,  as  if  the  fateful  solemnity  of  the  married  state 
already  had  reached  out  from  the  future  and  en- 
veloped her. 


CHAPTER  X 


A   CONFESSION 


BECAUSE  of  her  absorption  in  Miss  Finch's 
engrossing  problem,  Agatha  gave  the  travelers 
of  the  household  less  of  her  attention  on  their  re- 
turn that  afternoon  than  those  rather  spoiled  indi- 
viduals had  reason  to  expect.  Not  till  the  following 
morning  when  she  read  Forbes  a  letter  from  Julia, 
even  more  egotistic  than  the  average  communica- 
tion of  that  self-centered  young  woman,  did  Agatha 
realize  that  something  was  amiss  with  her  boarder. 
He  seemed  tired  and  low-spirited,  disinclined  to 
conversation,  in  decided  contrast  to  Howard,  who 
was  bubbling  over  with  items  of  interest  relating  to 
their  brief  trip.  Clearly  the  jaunt  had  been  too 
much  for  the  convalescent's  strength. 

A  little  conscience-stricken  that  she  had  not  earlier 
made  the  discovery,  Agatha  set  herself  resolutely 
to  the  task  of  reviving  Forbes'   drooping  spirits, 

140 


A  CONFESSION  141 

though  with  less  than  her  usual  success.  And  when 
late  in  the  afternoon  she  suggested  a  walk,  plead- 
ing that  her  knees  were  growing  stiff  from  lack  of 
exercise,  he  turned  the  tables  on  her  unexpectedly 
by  insisting  that  she  go  for  a  stroll  with  Howard  as 
an  escort,  leaving  him  at  home.  And  as  her  pro- 
test stirred  him  to  a  most  uncharacteristic  irritation, 
she  yielded  the  point  without  further  argument. 

"Of  course,  if  you  really  want  to  get  rid  of  us, 
we'll  go.    Only  I  hate  to  leave  you  alone." 

"I'm  better  company  for  myself  than  for  others, 
dear  lady.  I'd  rather  be  alone  for  a  little.  I'll  try 
to  sleep  and  perhaps  I'll  wake  in  a  better  humor." 

Her  only  thought  an  impatient  haste  to  have  the 
ordeal  over,  Agatha  started  out,  Howard  in  attend- 
ance. But  her  dejection  yielded  by  degrees  to  the 
magic  of  the  summer  afternoon.  It  vanished  com- 
pletely when  she  challenged  her  brother  to  a  race 
across  a  green  stretch  of  pasture.  They  reached 
their  goal  laughing  and  breathless,  Agatha  in  the 
lead,  and  climbing  the  low  stone  wall  they  dropped 
panting  in  the  shade  of  a  guardian  elm.  Agatha 
snuggled  back  against  the  huge  trunk,  tucking  her 
feet  under  her,  while  Howard  sprawled  happily  at 
her  side,  laying  his  head  in  her  lap.    Agatha's  con- 


142  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

tented  sigh  as  she  ran  her  fingers  through  his  hair, 
told  of  relaxed  nerves. 

"What  a  pity  Mr.  Forbes  wouldn't  come !  It's  so 
restful  here.  What  did  he  do  yesterday  to  tire 
him  so?'* 

"He  didn't  do  much  of  anything.  Saw  the  doc- 
tor and  Mr.  Warren  and  then — " 

"Warren  ?  Did  he  see  him  ?" 

"Sure.  Telephoned  the  first  thing  when  we  got  to 
the  city  and  Mr.  Warren  came  up  to  the  hotel  for 
lunch.  They  let  me  go  out  and  look  around  for  a 
couple  of  hours  while  they  talked.  Say,  Aggie,  I 
wish  you  knew  Mr.  Warren.   He's  a  dandy." 

Agatlia's  expressive  face  betrayed  no  especial  im- 
patience to  meet  the  object  of  Howard's  eulogy. 
Indeed  a  grim  tightening  of  her  lips  indicated  that 
on  this  theme  her  brother  and  herself  were  far  from 
agreement.  But  before  the  boy  had  time  to  be  im- 
pressed by  her  lack  of  responsiveness,  his  attention 
was  distracted  by  a  cough  from  the  direction  of  the 
road,  eminently  a  stagey  cough,  due  not  to  a  tickling 
in  the  throat,  but  to  some  one's  desire  to  announce' 
his  presence.  Howard  turned  sharply,  then  sprang 
to  his  feet  with  a  shout  of  mingled  pleasure  and 
astonishment. 


A  CONFESSION  143 

"Why,  hello,  Mr.  Warren !  Did  you  come  out  to 
find  us?  It's  the  funniest  thing  but  I  was  talking 
about  you  this  very  minute." 

Warren,  immaculate  in  a  gray  business  suit  and 
spotless  panama,  gave  no  indication  of  sharing  the 
boy's  pleasure  in  the  unexpected  encounter.  He 
looked  at  him  with  disconcerting  steadiness,  and 
Howard,  turning  to  his  sister,  saw  her  unconcealed 
consternation  and  realized  that  the  game  was  up. 
He  had  momentarily  forgotten  the  necessity  of  ex- 
plaining Aggie.  Mr.  Warren  would  have  to  know 
the  truth  and  undoubtedly  would  take  it  on  himself 
to  acquaint  Mr.  Forbes  with  the  surprising  state  of 
affairs.  Yet  after  all,  Mr.  Warren  was  a  good 
sport.    Perhaps  if  the  thing  were  put  up  to  him — 

Warren's  peremptory  speech  broke  in  on  the  boy's 
confused  thoughts.  "Chase  along,  Howard.  I  don't 
want  you  at  present." 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do,  Mr.  Warren  ?" 

"I  don't  care  what  you  do  as  long  as  you  don't 
stay  here." 

"I — but  I — "  Without  understanding  his  sense 
of  discomfiture,  Howard  blushed  an  angry  scarlet, 
and  faced  the  intruder  with  instinctive  defiance. 
Then  Agatha  spoke  wearily. 


144  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"It's  all  right,  Howard.   Run  along,  please." 

She  was  not  easily  daunted,  but  something  in 
Warren's  manner  was  accountable  for  a  singular 
chill  at  her  heart  that  was  like  fear.  She  had  for- 
gotten how  big  the  man  was,  and  his  nose  was  so 
unexpectedly  long  and  his  chin  so  heavy,  and  his 
eyes  bored  into  her  like  augers  and  were  of  a  steely 
gray  besides,  which  made  the  figure  more  impres- 
sive. He  seemed  quite  another  person  from  the  silly 
young  man  who  had  talked  nonsense  in  the  kitchen 
that  Sunday  morning  and  ended  by  kissing  her 
cheek. 

She  heard  Howard  stumble  away,  muttering 
angrily  to  himself.  Very  deliberately  Warren  moved 
toward  her.  She  forced  herself  to  lift  her  eyes.  He 
was  looking  down  at  her  with  the  air  of  one  who  has 
the  whip-hand  and  knows  it.  For  some  undefined 
reason  she  felt  herself  at  a  tremendous  disadvan- 
tage. 

"Look  here,"  said  Warren  with  the  same  hardness 
in  his  voice  she  had  noticed  when  he  spoke  to  How- 
ard, "this  won't  do,  you  know." 

Agatha  remembered  that  she  was  Hephzibah 
Diggs  just  in  time  to  drawl  the  inquiry  through 
her  nose.   "What  won't  do?" 


A  CONFESSION  145 

"You  mustn't  be  putting  ideas  into  the  kid's  head. 
He's  a  nice  kid.  Forbes  is  tremendously  interested 
in  him  and  so  is  Miss  Kent.  On  Miss  Kent's  ac- 
count if  there  were  no  other  reason,  you  ought  to 
let  the  boy  alone." 

She  glared  at  him,  fury  growing  with  under- 
standing. Her  baleful  gaze  fought  its  way  to  him 
through  tears  of  pure  rage. 

Her  unexpected  emotion  softened  him  perceptibly. 
He  laid  aside  his  air  of  judicial  sternness  as  easily 
as  he  would  have  removed  his  coat. 

"Come  now,"  he  said,  seating  himself  beside  her. 
"We  mustn't  quarrel.  And  I  dare  say  you  meant  no 
particular  harm.  Only  keep  in  mind  that  it's  hands 
off  where  the  boy  is  concerned." 

"Have  you  got  anything  to  say  to  me  ?" 

"You  bet  I  have.  I've  come  clear  from  town  to 
say  it,  Hephzibah.  By  the  way,  isn't  there  some- 
thing I  could  call  you  for  short  ?" 

"Yes,  Miss  Diggs." 

He  eyed  her  approvingly.  A  tear  had  splashed 
upon  her  burning  cheek,  and  was  making  its  leisurely 
way  toward  her  chin,  but  tears  with  Agatha  seldom 
gave  the  impression  of  feminine  softness.  Warren 
had  the  usual  masculine  horror  of  weepy  women. 


146  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

It  was  a  relief  to  perceive  that  for  all  her  tears, 
Agatha's  mood  was  murderous. 

"No  indeed,  we  mustn't  quarrel,"  he  repeated. 
"Because  I've  come  on  purpose  to- see  you,  and  do 
you  a  good  turn.  I'm  interested  in  you,  and  want 
to  help  you." 

"I  don't  want  none  of  your  help." 

"That's  because  you  don't  understand,  little  girl. 
This  world  is  a  pretty  big  place  and  so  far  you've 
seen  only  a  measly  little  corner." 

"It  suits  me."  He  saw  an  added  enmity  in  her 
eyes,  over  this  aspersion  on  her  native  village,  and 
smiled  tolerantly. 

"I  wouldn't  waste  any  loyalty  on  this  burg  if  I 
were  in  your  place.  I  asked  half  a  dozen  people 
where  I  could  find  you  and  every  one  pretended  he'd 
never  heard  of  you." 

Agatha's  look  showed  her  taken  aback  and  War- 
ren was  not  slow  to  follow  up  his  advantage. 

"Of  course  I  knew  they  were  lying.  Even  in  this 
unobservant  community,  my  dear  Hephzibah,  you 
could  hardly  escape  notice  any  more  than  on  Broad- 
way. I  assume  these  young  men  were  protecting 
their  reputations  by  denying  the  pleasure  of  your 
acquaintance." 


A  CONFESSION  147 

"Oh,"  murmured  Agatha,  "I  never  thought  I 
could  hate  anybody  the  way  I  hate  you." 

"You  shouldn't  feel  that  way,  my  child.  I'm  not 
trying  to  hurt  your  feelings.  I'm  perfectly  ready  to 
let  bygones  be  bygones  and  give  you  a  hand  up.  I 
only  mentioned  this  to  show  the  narrowness  of  these 
little  country  places.  They  never  forget,  Hephzi- 
bah,  and  believe  me,  they  never  forgive." 

The  fire  of  her  wrath  had  dried  her  tears.  Her 
eyes  bright  with  hate,  she  met  his  gaze  in  silence. 

"There's  something  about  you,  Hephzibah,"  con- 
tinued Warren,  a  slight  uneasiness  of  manner  show- 
ing that  his  sang  froid  was  not  quite  proof  against 
her  silent  hostility,  "something  which  makes  me  cer- 
tain that  it  would  pay  to  educate  you.  You  could 
learn,  I'm  positive  of  it.  And  you'll  take  on  polish. 
You  say  you're  satisfied  with  things  as  they 
are.  That  only  shows  your  ignorance,  my  dear 
child.  Instead  of  being  a  poor  little  drudge,  slighted 
and  snubbed  by  a  lot  of  country  jays,  you  could 
make  a  place  for  yourself  in  the  big  world.  I  can't 
tell  you  now  just  what  will  open  up  for  you,  but  at 
the  least  it  would  be  like  fairyland  compared  with 
what  you  have  to  expect  here." 

Her  anger  seemed  to  have  moderated  to  tranquil 


148  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

contempt.  She  sat  aloof  and  disdainful,  waiting  for 
him  to  finish  and  take  his  departure. 

"I  own  you  don't  know  me  well  enough  to  feel 
sure  of  my  motives  in  making  this  offer,"  Warren 
went  on  almost  humbly.  "But  you  can  ask  Miss 
Kent  about  the  blind  man  who's  boarding  with  her 
this  summer,  and  see  what  sort  of  reputation  she 
gives  him.  And  he's  in  this  thing  with  me.  In  fact 
it  was  at  his  suggestion  that  I  came  down  here 
to-day." 

At  last  he  had  succeeded  in  interesting  her.  Al- 
though she  did  not  speak  she  turned  with  a  quickness 
that  had  the  effect  of  an  interniption,  and  the  recent 
disdainful  calm  of  her  expression  was  replaced  by 
a  rather  wistful  look. 

"Yes,  Forbes  is  in  for  this,  tooth  and  nail."  War- 
ren was  pleased  at  the  altered  demeanor  of  his  audi- 
ence. "When  I  first  suggested  it  to  him,  he  talked 
it  over  with  Miss  Kent,  and  the  old  lady  discouraged 
him.  I  imagine  she's  a  good  sort  but  about  as  broad 
as  a  knitting  needle.  She  insisted  that  it  was  better 
for  you  to  be  let  alone,  and  she  talked  old  Forbes 
over,  and  I  thought  the  whole  thing  was  settled. 
But  after  you  saved  Forbes'  life — " 

"Why,"  cried  Agatha.  "How— how— ,"  Her  usu- 


A  CONFESSION  149 

ally  ready  tongue  failed  her,  and  in  her  blushing 
confusion  Warren  thought  her  adorable. 

*'I  suppose  you  wonder  how  he  knew  you  were 
his  rescuer,"  Warren  continued,  enjoying  to  the 
full  the  pleasing  effect  of  his  revelation.  "It  came 
to  him  by  a  sort  of  intuition.  He  quizzed  the  kid, 
but  Howard  wouldn't  tell.  It  simply  goes  to  show 
how  strait-laced  the  old  lady  is.  She'd  forbidden 
him  even  to  talk  about  you.  But  something  you  said 
or  did  fitted  in  with  what  I  had  told  Forbes  about 
you,  and  he  decided  that  he  couldn't  rest  easy  under 
such  an  obligation." 

"It's  only  a  guess."  Agatha  had  found  her  voice. 
"You  don't  know  anything  about  it." 

"It  was  a  safe  bet,  even  before  I  told  you  and 
M^atched  your  face.  Now  it's  a  dead  certainty. 
Listen!  Forbes  came  to  see  me  yesterday  and  we 
cocked  up  this  scheme.  See  how  it  strikes  you." 

He  had  her  attention  now,  close  and  serious, 
with  no  suggestion  of  disdain.  Painstakingly  he  ex- 
plained the  plan.  They  had  selected  a  woman  both 
knew  to  act  as  Hephzibah's  tutor.  They  would  send 
her  to  some  quiet  place  where  there  would  be  little 
to  distract  the  girl's  thoughts  from  her  work.  Her 
tutor,  an  impoverished  gentlewoman,  would  under- 


150  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

take  the  cultivation  of  manners  befitting  the  best 
society,  and  would  mold  her  literary  taste  by  reading 
to  her  from  the  English  classics,  in  addition  to  her 
regular  instruction. 

*T  don't  say  it  will  be  so  very  much  fun  for  six 
months,"  Warren  owned  frankly.  "But  we  both 
think  it  would  be  a  good  idea  for  you  to  work  for 
all  you  are  worth  at  the  start,  and  make  all  the  pro- 
gress possible.  And  when  once  you — well,  when 
the  rough  edges  are  smoothed  off  a  little,  you  can 
come  to  town  and  mix  in  a  little  fun  with  the  day's 
work.  What  do  you  think  of  the  idea?" 

Agatha's  answer  was  a  shake  of  her  head. 

"Too  strenuous  a  program,  is  it  ?"  Warren  looked 
disappointed  at  her  lack  of  ambition.  "Well,  it 
isn't  necessary  to  travel  at  such  a  pace.  Both  Forbes 
and  I  felt  it  would  be  more  encouraging  to  you 
in  the  long  run,  if  your  advancement  was  so  rapid 
that  you  couldn't  help  realizing  it." 

"Yes,  that  would  be  better  if — but  it  won't  work. 
Thank  you.  It's  kind  of  you,  but  I — I  can't  go 
away." 

"Away?  Do  you  mean  away  from  this  hole  in 
the  woods  ?" 


A  CONFESSION  151 

Agatha  nodded  with  no  attempt  to  defend  her 
native  place  against  his  sneers. 

"This  home  of  yours,  where  a  nice  kid  like  How- 
ard is  forbidden  to  speak  of  you,  and  where  older 
men  look  scared  when  your  name  is  mentioned  and 
say  they  never  heard  of  you  ?" 

"You  said  all  that  before."  Agatha  had  turned 
rather  white.  "And  it  won't  do  any  good  to  say  it 
again." 

Warren  studied  her  averted  face,  a  pensive  face 
at  that  moment.  He  had  a  confused  certainty  that 
he  had  been  too  hard  on  her.  He  had  only  spoken 
the  truth  and  for  her  good,  but  he  had  overdone  it. 
He  had  been  brutal. 

"Hephzibah,"  he  said  suddenly,  a  new  gentleness 
in  his  voice,  "I  know  what's  the  matter  with  you. 
You're  in  love." 

There  was  something  so  virginal  in  her  protesting 
recoil  that  he  had  to  stop  a  moment  for  breath. 
Yet  a  quality  in  the  movement  gave  him  an  odd  con- 
viction of  her  innate  fineness,  in  spite  of  that  chap- 
ter in  her  past  he  found  it  hard  to  forget. 

"There's  no  other  explanation,  Hephzibah."  He 
tried  to  speak  lightly  without  any  great  degree  of 


152  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

success.  "When  a  girl  of  your  sort  sticks  to  a  place 
of  this  sort,  like  a  barnacle  to  a  ship's  bottom,  it's 
as  sure  as  shooting  that  there's  a  man  in  the  case. 
Come,  Hephzibah,  own  up." 

She  lifted  her  chin  in  a  regal  way  she  had — an 
incongruous  motion  in  a  country  girl  who  "worked 
out" — and  looked  at  him  squarely.  With  a  little 
thrill  he  saw  that  her  eyes  had  filled  again.  And 
though  she  did  not  speak,  those  brimming  eyes 
seemed  a  brave,  frank  avowal  that  his  surmise  had 
hit  the  mark. 

"Well,  Hephzibah,  I'm  glad  you  aren't  going  to 
need  our  help — Forbes'  and  mine — in  order  to  be 
happy.  I  hope  your  young  man  knows  he's  lucky." 
He  was  astonished  at  the  keenness  of  the  pang 
which  marked  this  formal  renunciation.  "When  is 
it  to  be,  Hephzibah?" 

"Why,  it's  not — you  don't  understand — I'm  not 
going  to  be  married." 

Warren  sat  up  straight.  "The  devil,  you're  not," 
he  said,  his  voice  harshly  cynical. 

The  girl  rose  and  stamped  her  foot  on  the  grass. 
The  soft  turf  swallowed  the  sound,  but  the  passion- 
ate gesture  was  not  less  impressive  because  noiseless. 
"You  hush!"  she  said.    "Don't  you  dare  to  think 


A  CONFESSION  153 

things  like  that  about  him.  He's  perfect.  He  never 
harmed  anybody,  never!  And  for  you  to  dare  to 
blacken  him  with  your  beastly  thoughts  just  because 
I've  been  fool  enough  to  care." 

Swayed  by  unprecedented  emotion,  Warren  rose 
to  his  feet.  In  her  earlier  anger  the  girl  had  been 
merely  a  lovely  virago.  Now,  in  her  furious  de- 
fense of  the  man  he  had  apparently  misjudged,  she 
was  superb.  Warren  felt  himself  swept  from  his 
moorings. 

"Very  well,  Hephzibah.  I'll  take  your  word  for 
it  that  he's  all  right." 

"He  doesn't  know.  He  doesn't  even  dream. 
There's —    He  loves  some  one  else." 

"Don't,  Hephzibah.  Poor  little  girl!  What  a 
damned  muddle  life  is."  He  was  fumbling  for  his 
card. 

"Can  you  write,  dear  ?" 

"After  a  fashion."  All  in  a  minute  she  was  an- 
other woman,  with  radiant  mischief  peering  out  of 
her  eyes. 

"Here's  my  address  on  this  card.  If  you  should 
change  your  mind,  write  me.  I  hope  and  believe  you 
will.  Just  because  one  man  is  blind,  it  doesn't  follow 
that  there's  nothing  else  in  life," 


154  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

She  gave  a  slight  start,  looking  at  him  obliquely, 
the  mischief  quite  gone  from  her  eyes.  But  she 
accepted  his  card,  and  then  of  her  own  accord  gave 
him  her  hand,  "You  have  been  good  to  take  so 
much  trouble,"  she  said.  "Thank  you."  The  two 
had  changed  markedly  since  the  dialogue  under  the 
elm  tree  began.  The  girl's  hostility  had  vanished 
as  completely  as  the  man's  condescension. 

On  his  way  back  to  the  city  that  night,  Warren 
evolved  the  theory  that  Hephzibah  was  originally 
of  gentle  blood.  That  accounted  for  the  quality  of 
her  beauty,  for  something  in  her  manner  suggesting 
one  accustomed  to  homage  rather  than  to  service. 
Warren  was  inclined  to  believe  it  also  explained  a 
singular  fact  which  impressed  him  more  as  he 
thought  over  the  events  of  the  afternoon  than  it  had 
at  the  time.  There  could  be  no  question  but  that  in 
moments  of  extreme  excitement,  a  certain  uncouth- 
ness  disappeared  from  her  speech  and  manner,  and 
she  lapsed,  so  to  speak,  into  the  idioms  of  her  pre- 
sumably cultured  forebears.  In  Warren's  opinion 
this  cast  a  most  interesting  side-light  on  the  subject 
of  heredity. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  WILFUL  MAN  MUST  HAVE  HIS  WAY 

THOUGH  there  was  no  likelihood  of  another 
letter  from  Julia  for  a  week  at  least,  Forbes 
showed  an  abnormal  interest  in  the  contents  of  the 
mail  bag,  and  Agatha  guessed  he  was  expecting  to 
hear  from  Warren.  She,  too,  found  herself  anxiously 
anticipating  the  arrival  of  the  letter  addressed  in 
the  vigorous  hand  which  in  some  obscure  way  was 
6o  suggestive  of  the  man's  personality.  When  it 
came  four  days  after  that  unique  dialogue  under 
the  elm  tree,  and  the  duty  of  reading  it  devolved 
upon  herself,  Agatha's  heart  beat  suffocatingly. 

But  as  it  proved,  all  her  thrills  were  anticipa- 
tory. The  letter  itself  contained  nothing  she  did 
not  already  know,  and  that  little  was  told  tersely 
and  obscurely,  evidently  with  the  intention  of  pre- 
venting Miss  Kent,  the  probable  reader,  from  learn- 
ing  that   her   counsel    had   been   ignored.     With 

155 


156  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

businesslike  brevity  Warren  stated  that  he  attended 
to  the  matter  they  had  discussed  the  previous  week. 
He,  Forbes,  was  correct  in  his  conjecture  as  to  the 
identity  of  the  party  who  had  done  him  the  service 
he  had  spoken  of,  but  said  party  had  turned  his 
proposition  down  flat.  "And  now  that  our  con- 
sciences are  clear,"  Warren  wrote,  "the  only  thing 
left  is  to  drop  the  whole  matter.  Hope  the  un- 
pleasant effect  of  your  treatments  has  worn  off  and 
that  your  eyes  are  feeling  better.       R.  W." 

It  was  plain  from  the  expression  of  Forbes'  face 
that  he  shared  Agatha's  uncomplimentary  opinion 
of  the  communication  in  question.  The  remainder 
of  the  day  he  was  frowningly  contemplative,  resist- 
ing all  efforts  to  draw  him  into  conversation.  For 
the  first  time  Agatha  saw  in  his  face  lines  suggesting 
a  determination  akin  to  stubbornness. 

By  morning  his  manner  showed  the  relief  of  hav- 
ing reached  a  decision.  Agatha  was  not  unprepared 
to  have  him  say  at  the  conclusion  of  the  morning 
meal,  "Miss  Kent,  when  you  have  a  little  time  I 
would  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you.'* 

"I  can  come  now." 

"There's  no  hurry — no  especial  hurry,  that  is. 
Any  time  this  forenoon." 


A  WILFUL  MAN  157 

But  Agatha's  curiosity  was  awakened.  She  con- 
ducted him  out  upon  the  porch,  ensconced  him  in  a 
comfortable  chair,  and  seated  herself  beside  him. 
As  a  preliminary,  he  took  her  hand  and  kissed  it. 

"I  must  begin  with  a  confession,  my  dear  lady. 
I  have  been  keeping  a  secret  from  you,  in  fact  more 
than  one." 

"Dear  me !  And  I  thought  you  had  accepted  me 
as  mother  confessor." 

"So  I  have.  I  decided  not  to  tell  you  for  fear  of 
worrying  you.  But  the  truth  is  that  I  came  near 
walking  over  the  cliff  one  afternoon,  when  I  was  out 
with  Howard,  and  ending  my  troubles  by  breaking 
my  neck." 

Agatha  succeeded  in  expressing  a  sufficient  degree 
of  shocked  horror  in  her  exclamation. 

Forbes  patted  her  hand  reassuringly.  "But  I 
didn't,  you  see.  My  life  was  saved  in  a  convention- 
ally romantic  way.  A  beautiful  girl  flung  herself 
into  my  arms,  and  when  she  could  get  her  breath, 
gave  me  a  terrific  scolding." 

"Oh !"  Agatha  looked  at  him  with  unfeigned  in- 
terest. "How  did  you  know  she  was  beautiful? 
Did  Howard  tell  you?" 

"No,  Warren." 


158  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Oh !"  She  seemed  a  little  disappointed.  "But  he 
.wasn't  there,  was  he  ?" 

"No,  but  he'd  told  me  about  her.  And  I  think  I 
should  have  known  anyway." 

"How?"  Again  he  noted  the  animation  in  her 
tone. 

"I'm  not  quite  sure.  Perhaps  a  blind  man  de- 
velops a  sort  of  sixth  sense.  Anyway,  as  I  stood 
there  with  my  arms  about  her — it  was  necessary 
in  the  circumstances,  and  you  needn't  look  shocked 
as  I  suspect  you're  doing — I  had  as  vivid  an  impres- 
sion of  youth  and  beauty  as  if  I'd  seen  her." 

"More  so,  probably,"  amended  Agatha  joyously. 

"No,  not  if  Warren's  right.  He  says  she's  some- 
thing extraordinary.   Can't  you  guess  who  it  was?" 

"I  believe  that  Mr.  Warren" — Agatha  seemed  to 
be  searching  her  memory  for  details —  "talked  rather 
extravagantly  about  Hephzibah." 

"Yes,  Hephzibah  was  the  girl.  And  that  puts 
quite  a  new  light  on  Warren's  plan  for  educating 
her,  don't  you  see?" 

"No,  I  don't."  Agatha's  brevity  implied  distaste 
for  the  subject. 

"Well,  I  do.  A  man's  chance  interest  in  a  pretty 
girl  may  be  perfectly  innocent  and  unobjectionable, 


A  WILFUL  MAN  159 

but  you  can't  compare  it  with  what  one  feels  for 
the  woman  who  has  saved  one's  Hfe." 

"I  told  you  that  she  wanted  to  be  left  alone.  I 
told  you  that  it  would  be  kinder." 

"Wait,  please."  Under  the  deference  of  his  man- 
ner, she  perceived  a  resolution  that  was  adamant. 
"I've  told  you  only  one  of  the  secrets  that  I  have  kept 
from  you.  Here's  the  other.  When  I  was  in  town  I 
saw  Warren  and  we  laid  plans  for  taking  Hephzi- 
bah's  case  in  hand,  regular  uplift  proposition,  don't 
you  know.  Warren  was  to  see  her  and  arrange 
matters.  We  had  everything  settled.  We  had  a 
governess  selected  and  had  decided  on  a  little  sea- 
side place  for  them  to  stay  until  she  was  presentable. 
Warren  was  going  to  ask  a  girl  he  knows  to  buy 
her  a  suitable  outfit." 

"I  don't  wonder  you've  been  blue,"  Agatha  said 
in  tones  of  soft  reproach,  "Planning  all  this  out 
and  not  a  word  to  me." 

To  her  surprise  he  blushed  high.  "No,"  he  said 
after  a  moment,  "I've  been  down  in  the  depths,  God 
knows,  but  not  for  that  reason.  I  thought — well, 
you  seemed  to  feel  so  strongly  on  the  subject  of  not 
interfering  with  Hephzibah,  that  I  didn't  want  to 
lx)ther  you." 


160  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"And  now  you  do  ?  Is  that  why  you're  telHng  me 
about  it?'* 

"I'm  telHng  you  because  I  want  your  help."  He 
set  his  jaw  grimly  as  he  faced  her,  "I  left  Warren 
to  engineer  the  thing  and  he's  bungled  it." 

"It  wasn't  his  fault."  Agatha  evinced  a  commend- 
able eagerness  not  to  be  unjust  to  the  absent.  "When 
Hephzibah  has  made  up  her  mind,  trying  to  change 
it  is  like  going  against  a  stone  wall." 

"Possibly.  But  I  shan't  feel  satisfied  till  I've  tried 
my  persuasive  powers  on  her."  Forbes  sat  waiting 
for  some  comment  from  Agatha,  and  when  none  was 
offered,  explained  firmly,  "I  want  an  interview  with 
her." 

Still  Agatha  did  not  speak.  She  was  beginning  to 
feel  an  aversion  to  Hephzibah  Diggs  which 
amounted  to  positive  hatred.  That  talk  with  War- 
ren had  been  trying  enough,  with  his  repeated  ref- 
erences to  some  scandalous  episode  in  her  past.  But 
for  reasons  perfectly  clear  to  Agatha  herself,  the 
interview  with  Forbes  promised  to  be  vastly  worse. 

"Well  ?"  Forbes  was  puzzled  by  her  silence.  "Had 
she  better  come  here  ?  Or  shall  I  have  Howard  take 
me  to  her  home  ?" 

"Oh,  no."   The  dismay  in  Agatha's  voice  nega- 


A  WILFUL  MAN  161 

tived  the  last  suggestion  conclusively.  Forbes  found 
her  tremors  a  trifle  irritating.  He  had  to  remind 
himself  that  she  was  an  old  lady,  and  that  for  many 
years  her  will  had  been  supreme  in  her  little  circle. 
He  found  her  hand  and  patted  it  affectionately.  He 
was  beginning  to  think  that  these  sentimental  atten- 
tions counted  more  with  elderly  women  than  with 
younger  ones. 

"Well,  then,  we'll  have  her  here.  Will  you  send 
her  word,  some  time  to-day  ?" 

"I'm  not  sure  she'll  come." 

"Then  I'll  go  to  her."  His  obstinacy  showed  in  his 
voice.  "I  tell  you  I'm  going  to  talk  to  that  girl. 
She's  got  a  chance  at  last.  She's  young  and  it's 
inconceivable  that  she  should  turn  down  such  an 
offer  if  she  really  understood  it." 

"That's  the  sort  of  girl  she  is.  Worthless,  tri- 
fling." 

Forbes  withdrew  his  hand  from  hers.  To  her 
amazement  Agatha  saw  she  had  really  offended 
him.  And  now  to  her  dislike  of  Hephzibah  was 
added  a  preposterous  jealousy.  She,  Agatha  Kent, 
had  devoted  herself  to  Forbes  all  summer  only  to 
have  him  act  like  a  spoiled  child  when  she  ventured 
a  criticism  of  a  girl  he  had  met  only  on  one  occasion, 


162  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

a  girl  with  a  past,  at  that.  What  was  Hephzibah 
to  him  or  he  to  Hephzibah,  that  for  her  sake  he  was 
ready  to  affront  his  father's  old  friend  and  his 
own  ?" 

"I  shan't  need  Howard  this  morning,"  remarked 
Forbes  pleasantly  but  with  a  relentless  holding  to 
his  purpose  which  forced  her  to  realize  the  hopeless- 
ness of  altering  his  intention.  "So  if  you  please,  ask 
him  to  take  the  message.  The  girl  may  be  all  that 
you  say,  and  my  interest  and  effort  may  all  be 
wasted,  but  I  prefer  to  see  for  myself." 

"Very  well,"  said  Agatha  swallowing.  She  per- 
ceived that  he  considered  her  a  narrow-minded  old 
person,  who  thought  it  impossible  for  a  woman  to 
return  to  the  paths  of  rectitude,  after  once  stepping 
aside.  He  would  not  take  her  word  for  Hephzibah. 
He  was  determined  to  interview  her  for  himself. 
Agatha  looked  at  him  with  narrowing  eyes.  Very 
well !  Let  him  take  the  consequences. 

"I'll  see  that  Hephzibah  gets  the  message,"  she 
said  with  dignity.  "I  can't  answer  for  results." 

"Of  course  not."  Now  that  he  had  gained  his 
point,  his  manner  was  thoroughly  friendly.  "I'll 
take  the  entire  responsibility  for  the  outcome." 


A  WILFUL  MAN  163 

Agatha  realized  that  she  was  dismissed.  She  went 
up-stairs  feeling  out  of  sorts  with  Forbes  and  posi- 
tively murderous  where  Hephzibah  was  concerned. 
She  even  played  with  the  thought  of  having  that 
obtrusive  young  woman  smitten  with  mortal  illness, 
too  sick  for  the  interview  Forbes  insisted  on,  and 
in  a  few  days  reaching  the  end  of  her  brief  and 
troubled  life.  She  dismissed  the  thought  when  she 
realized  that  Forbes  was  capable  of  summoning  a 
physician  from  the  city  to  attend  the  patient. 

The  door  of  Miss  Finch's  room  was  ajar.  Miss 
Finch  sat  at  the  table  with  a  sheet  of  paper  spread 
out  before  her  and  a  pen  in  hand.  The  seriousness 
of  her  expression  suggested  that  she  was  on  the 
point  of  making  her  last  will  and  testament. 

"Fritz,"  exclaimed  Agatha,  appearing  in  the  door- 
way, "I  have  a  message  for  you  to  give  Hephzibah 
Diggs." 

Miss  Finch  looked  at  her  wildly. 

"Will  you  please  say  that  Mr.  Forbes  would  like 
to  see  her  some  time  to-day.  Say  it's  very  im- 
portant." 

As  Miss  Finch  continued  to  stare,  Agatha  showed 
signs  of  impatience.   "Well,  why  don't  you  begin  ?" 


164  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Begin  what,  Agatha?" 

"Why,  say  what  I've  just  told  you,  that  Mr. 
Forbes  wants  to  see  me  this  afternoon." 

Miss  Finch  groaned  and  shook  her  head.  "Oh, 
Agatha,  it  seems  so  wicked." 

"Wicked!  If  that's  not  unreasonable.  Here  I  am 
taking  all  the  pains  to  come  up-stairs  to  you,  to  have 
you  give  me  the  message  so  I  won't  need  to  stretch 
the  truth  the  least  little  bit,  and  then  you  talk  as  if 
I  were  an  ordinary  prevaricator,  without  a  con- 
science." 

Miss  Finch  quailed  before  Agatha's  simulated 
indignation.  "Oh,  if  you  look  at  it  that  way,"  she 
replied  feebly  and  made  an  effort  to  recall  the  mes- 
sage. "Hephzibah,  Mr.  Forbes  wants  to  see  you 
to-day." 

"Tell  me  it's  very  important,"  prompted  Agatha. 

"It's  very  important,"  Miss  Finch  repeated,  and 
looked  on  the  point  of  bursting  into  tears. 

"I'll  be  there  at  three  o'clock,"  replied  Agatha  in 
the  person  of  Hephzibah.  Then  her  gaze  fell  on  the 
letters  lying  open  on  the  table  and  she  temporarily 
forgot  her  own  perplexities  in  the  perennial  feminine 
interest  in  a  love-affair. 

"Oh,    Fritz,"    she    exclaimed,    coming    closer. 


A  WILFUL  MAN  165 

"You're  writing  the  letter,  aren't  you?  Which  one 
is  it  to  be?" 

Miss  Finch  looked  at  the  blank  sheet  before  her 
with  an  expression  equally  blank. 

"Agatha,"  she  hesitated,  "it  almost  seems  to  me — 
at  least  don't  you  think  Mr.  Doolittle  is  rather  the 
best-looking?" 

Agatha  pondered  the  question  with  the  seriousness 
its  importance  deserved. 

"I  rather  think  he  is,  Fritz.  The  deacon  is  much 
too  fat.  My  ideal  of  manly  beauty  isn't  broad 
enough  to  include  a  fat  man.  It's  surprising  how 
some  people  thrive  on  bereavement." 

Miss  Finch  fidgeted  with  her  pen.  "But  perhaps 
the  deacon  is  a  little  more  careful  about  his  ap- 
pearance." 

Again  Agatha  acquiesced.  "Mr.  Doolittle  is  far 
from  particular.  I've  seen  him  in  the  village  with 
only  one  suspender,  and  the  usefulness  of  that  de- 
pendent on  one  anemic-looking  safety-pin.  I've  hon- 
estly trembled  for  fear  of  what  might  happen.  The 
deacon's  away  in  the  lead  in  the  matter  of  clothes." 

Again  Miss  Finch  looked  nervously  at  the  paper 
before  her  and  then  surprised  Agatha  by  laying 
down  her  pen. 


166  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"I  rather  thought  I'd  write  them  to-day,"  she 
said.  "It's  been — well,  not  long,  but  quite  a  time 
since  their  letters  came,  and  I  thought — " 

She  fell  into  an  indeterminate  silence,  and  Aga- 
tha finished  the  sentence  for  her.  "Of  course  they're 
getting  impatient.  It's  cruel  to  keep  them  on  tlie  rack 
this  way.  Why  don't  you  put  tliem  out  of  their  mis- 
ery, Fritz?" 

"Why,  I  don't  want  to  hurry,  Agatha.  I  must 
wait  to  be  sure.  There's  some  nice  things  about  each 
one  and  some  that  aren't  so  nice.  I'll  have  to  think 
it  over  a  while  yet." 

Agatha  was  watching  the  little  woman  keenly. 
"Fritz,"  she  asked  with  unusual,  gentle  gravity,  "are 
you  sure  you  want  either  of  them?  Don't  you  think 
you'd  be  happier  just  to  stay  on  with  me?" 

Miss  Finch  regarded  her  interrogator  with  evi- 
dent amazement.  "Why,  Agatha,  I  might  never  have 
another  chance." 

This  was  too  true  to  question.  Agatha  remained 
silent. 

"I  sometimes  can't  help  wishing,"  Miss  Finch 
owned  plaintively,  "that  there  hadn't  been  two. 
ghat's  what  makes  it  so  puzzling — having  to  choose. 
And  there  seems  so  much  to  be  said  on  both  sides. 


A  WILFUL  MAN  167 

But  to  refuse  them  both — why,  Agatha,  it  would  be 
flying  in  the  face  of  Providence." 

Agatha  said  no  more.  Leaving  Miss  Finch  to  her 
dreams,  she  went  up  to  the  garret  to  find  an  appro- 
priate costume  for  Hephzibah  in  her  forthcoming 
momentous  interview.  She  felt  she  could  act  her 
role  with  more  spirit  if  dressed  appropriately  to  the 
part.  Agatha  did  not  underestimate  the  difficulty 
of  her  proposed  masquerade.  It  was  an  easy  matter 
to  evolve  a  personality  sufficiently  consistent  to  de- 
ceive Warren,  for  Warren  had  never  met  the  digni- 
fied and  elderly  spinster,  Miss  Agatha  Kent.  Forbes, 
on  the  contrary,  had  spent  hours  in  that  lady's 
company  nearly  every  day  through  the  summer,  and 
knew  every  inflection  of  her  voice.  The  forthcoming 
interview  with  Forbes  presented  any  number  of  terri- 
fying possibilities. 

She  had  a  word  with  him  at  a  suitable  interval 
after  their  late  conversation.   "She's  coming." 

"Good !"  he  cried  triumphantly.  "Did  Howard  go  ?" 

"No.  Miss  Finch  was  going  to  see  her,  anyway. 
She'll  be  here  at  three." 

"Good !"  said  Forbes  again.  He  turned  to  her  with 
that  mingled  gentleness  and  resolution  which  some- 
how revealed  him  in  a  new  light. 


168  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Now,  my  dear  friend,  I'm  going  to  ask  a  favor 
of  you.  Promise  me  you  won't  misunderstand." 

"I'll  try  not,"  she  said  faintly,  and  her  heart  mis- 
gave her. 

"Promise  me  that  you'll  leave  us  to  ourselves 
when  we  have  our  little  talk.  I  know  your  interest 
in  Hephzibah's  future — " 

In  her  relief  Agatha  became  jocular.  "No,  you 
don't  know.  You  can't.  Her  welfare  means  as  much 
to  me  as  my  own." 

"I'm  not  doubting  that.  Please  don't  misunder- 
stand me.  But  sometimes  I  think  these  sensitive 
natures  can  open  up  better  to  a  stranger  than  to  a 
friend.  And  the  fact  that  I'm  blind  may  be  a  help 
to  her." 

"Yes,"  agreed  Agatha  with  unmistakable  sincerity, 
"I'm  pretty  sure  it  will  be." 

"There's  something  mysterious  about  that  girl," 
Forbes  continued.  "The  way  she  refuses  to  listen 
to  propositions  that  are  all  clearly  for  her  good, 
puzzles  me.  I'm  convinced  that  if  I  can  have  her  to 
myself  an  hour  or  so,  I'll  get  at  the  root  of  the 
trouble.  Anyway  it's  worth  trying." 

Relieved  from  the  terrifying  certainty  that  he  was 
about  to  ask  her  to  chaperon  them  during  the  inter- 


A  WILFUL  MAN  169 

view,  Agatha  had  almost  ceased  to  dread  the  pro- 
spective ordeal.  But  prudence  suggested  the  advisa- 
bility of  seeming  a  little  hurt.  "I  shouldn't  have 
interfered  in  any  way,"  she  assured  him  plaintively. 
"Since  you've  set  your  heart  on  talking  to  Hephzi- 
bah,  I  should  have  sat  quietly  in  the  background  and 
not  said  a  word." 

"Better  not,"  Forbes  interposed  hastily.  "Let  me 
have  my  way  this  time.  And  when  we  talk  it  over 
afterward,  I'll  tell  you  every  word  that  was  said  as 
nearly  as  I  can  remember." 


CHAPTER  XII 

HEPHZIBAH  TURNS  THE  TABLES 

HEPHZIBAH  DIGGS  was  prompt.  As  the 
grandfather's  clock  in  the  hall  struck  three, 
Agatha  advanced  to  the  French  window  opening  on 
the  porch,  and  said  in  her  natural  voice,  "She's  here, 
Mr.  Forbes." 

Forbes  smiled  approval.  "Send  her  around,  please. 
Miss  Kent."  His  manner  suggested  that  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  his  philanthropic  plan  were  now 
a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  clumping  footsteps  that  presently  announced 
the  approach  of  his  visitor  took  him  back  a  trifle. 
There  was  no  particular  reason  why  Hephzibah 
should  not  be  an  ordinary  clumsy  country  girl,  in 
heavy  shoes  that  clattered  noisily  as  she  moved,  but 
somehow  he  had  not  expected  it.  He  rose  and  stood 
awaiting  her. 

The  voice  was  more  unexpected  than  her  heavy 
tread.  It  made  him  wince.  He  remembered  that 
Warren  likened  it  to  the  melodious  notes  of  a  guinea 

170 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  l/'l 

fowl  and  lie  appreciated  the  aptness  of  the  com- 
parison. There  was  no  reason  why  Hephzibah  Diggs 
should  not  talk  through  her  nose,  and  in  a  harsh, 
strident,  generally  unpleasant  tone.  But  the  fact 
that  she  did  so,  though  he  had  been  abundantly  fore- 
warned, took  him  by  surprise. 

"Miss  Kent  says  you've  got  something  to  say  to 
me." 

Thus  Hephzibah  announced  her  presence.  And 
Forbes,  hastily  summoning  a  smile,  and  resolutely 
excluding  his  pain  from  his  voice,  extended  a  cordial 
hand. 

*T'm  very  glad  to  meet  you,  Miss  Hephzibah. 
Won't  you  sit  down?  I  think  there's  a  chair  near." 

"I'll  wait  on  myself,  don't  you  bother  none."  A 
grating  noise  indicated  that  a  chair  was  being 
dragged  across  the  floor  of  the  porch  into  convenient 
nearness  to  his  own.  A  plumping  sound  gave  evi- 
dence that  Hephzibah  had  seated  herself. 

The  picture  in  the  rustic  chair  deserved  a  more 
appreciative  audience  than  a  blind  man.  Hephzibah 
wore  a  costume  best  described  as  a  medley,  since 
garments  originally  the  property  of  Miss  Finch  and 
Howard,  as  well  as  her  own,  contributed  to  the 
startling  effect.  A  pair  of  Howard's  outgrown  shoes 


172  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

accounted  for  her  clumsy  tread.  She  wore  a  little 
bonnet  which  Miss  Finch  had  discarded  after  some 
dozen  years  of  service,  and  which  seemed  genuinely 
scandalized  at  finding  itself  atop  Agatha's  brazenly 
assertive  mass  of  hair.  A  very  short  calico  skirt, 
also  the  property  of  Miss  Finch,  and  a  sky-blue  silk 
waist,  evidently  designed  for  festive  wear,  completed 
the  grotesque  costume.  Just  why  it  should  have 
given  Agatha  confidence  in  playing  her  role,  she 
knew  as  little  as  any  one. 

Forbes  commented  pleasantly  on  the  weather  as 
some  such  preliminary  skirmishing  seemed  neces- 
sary before  coming  to  the  point.  He  had  resolved 
on  establishing  a  friendly  understanding  between 
Hephzibah  and  himself,  before  making  the  offer 
which,  he  realized,  might  readily  arouse  the  suspi- 
cion of  a  girl  who  knew  by  bitter  experience  that 
men  are  not  always  to  be  trusted.  He  was  inclined 
to  suspect  Warren  of  lacking  tact,  startling  her  by 
his  failure  to  employ  finesse.  He  did  not  take  him- 
self into  his  own  confidence  fully  enough  to  admit 
that  he  was  also  sparring  for  time  in  the  effort  to 
recover  his  poise.  It  was  singular  that  he  had  re- 
ceived so  different  an  impression  of  Hephzibah  in 
the  brief,  bewildering  interview  which  had  opened 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  173 

by  his  clasping  lier  in  his  arms,  and  ended  by  her 
refusal  to  tell  her  name.  He  had  to  remind  himself 
that  on  the  springy  turf  her  clumsy  tread  would  be 
soundless,  and  that  the  gasping  whisper  in  which 
she  spoke  gave  him  no  clue  as  to  the  quality  of  her 
voice.  Still,  if  Warren's  letter  had  not  expressly 
assured  him  that  Hephzibah  was  his  mysterious  res- 
cuer, he  would  have  felt  sure  that  he  had  been  mis- 
taken. 

Hephzibah  was  in  full  accord  with  his  favorable 
opinion  of  the  weather.  She  expressed  her  agree- 
ment so  heartily  that  he  winced  again,  and  con- 
quered an  impulse  to  tell  her  that  it  was  unnecessary 
to  speak  so  loud. 

"I  suppose,"  he  began,  deciding  that  after  all  it 
would  be  better  to  waive  further  introductory  re- 
marks, "that  you  must  have  wondered  why  I  wanted 
to  see  you." 

*T  didn't  bother  about  that  none,"  replied  Heph- 
zibah. "I've  had  a  lot  to  do  with  sick  folks,  and  I 
know  they're  likely  to  take  'most  any  sort  of  notion 
into  their  heads." 

Forbes  reddened  smartly.  He  felt  as  if  he  had 
been  slapped.  Clearly  tact  was  not  in  Hephzibah's 
line. 


174  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

*T've  heard  a  good  deal  about  you,  first  and  last," 
he  assured  her  pleasantly.  "And  of  course  my  in- 
terest in  you  was  increased  by  what  happened  near 
Indian  Rock  the  other  afternoon.  I'm  not  going  to 
talk  about  that  for  I  know  you  would  rather  I 
wouldn't." 

"Oh,  don't  mind  me,"  Hephzibah  returned  com- 
fortably. "You  can  say  anything  you  like.  You 
can't  make  me  mad." 

Forbes  hesitated.  There  is  no  doubt  that  on  the 
moment  he  acquitted  Miss  Kent  of  a  certain  charge 
to  which  she  had  been  given  no  chance  to  plead 
guilty.  He  realized  that  women  sometimes  under- 
stood one  another  better  than  a  mere  man  might 
hope  to  do.  But  he  had  put  his  hand  to  the  plow 
with  the  intention  of  proving  Warren's  unfitness  in 
matters  requiring  diplomacy,  and  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  turning  back. 

Deliberately  and  with  carefully  chosen  words, 
Forbes  explained  to  Hephzibah  the  plan  he  had 
evolved  for  her  regeneration.  He  went  more  into 
detail  than  Warren  had  done.  He  traced  her  future 
years  from  the  present  modest  start,  up  to  the  time 
when  she  should  bear  the  stamp  of  culture,  and  be 
able  to  hold  her  own  in  the  best  society.    The  pic- 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  175 

ture  that  he  drew  seemed  to  him  an  attractive  one. 
He  showed  himself  not  altogether  lacking  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  opposite  sex,  by  the  emphasis  he 
placed  upon  the  friend  of  Warren's  to  whom  had 
been  assigned  the  responsibility  of  selecting  a  suit- 
able wardrobe  for  Hephzibah. 

He  did  not  pause  till  he  was  pleasantly  confident 
that  he  had  done  the  subject  justice.  He  turned 
his  sightless  eyes  upon  her  expectantly.  Hephzibah 
said  nothing.  There  was  a  chilling  quality  in  her 
protracted  silence. 

"Well?"  questioned  Forbes,  and  though  he  had 
been  so  favorably  impressed  by  his  putting  of  the 
case,  he  spoke  a  little  anxiously.  "What  do  you  think 
of  it  all?" 

Hephzibah  laughed  unmusically. 

"Well,  I  let  you  go  on,  just  so's  to  get  it  off  your 
chest.  There  ain't  nothing  to  it,  not  so  far  as  I  can 
see.  The  clothes  would  be  nice  enough,  but  if  I  had 
to  study  all  the  time  and  have  some  dame  bossing 
me  my  days  off  and  all,  I'd  pay  for  'em  dear." 

"But  wouldn't  you  like  to  be  educated?" 

"Laws,  no.  I  never  hankered  to  be  a  school- 
teacher.   I'd  rather  cook  any  day  in  the  week." 

By  this  time  Forbes  was  convinced  that  Miss  Kent 


176  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

was  right.  Something  was  lacking  in  Hephzibah. 
He  realized  that  he  himself  had  been  influenced 
more  than  he  knew  by  Warren's  extravagance,  and 
Warren,  it  was  apparent,  had  been  swept  off  his  feet 
by  the  girl's  fresh  beauty.  Just  how  to  explain  the 
impression  he  himself  had  formed  of  her  that  day 
when  she  swung  her  lithe  body  between  him  and 
mortal  peril,  Forbes  did  not  know.  She  had  said 
little,  and  that  with  difficulty,  because  of  her  breath- 
less condition,  and  yet  the  impression  he  had  formed 
of  her  was  infinitely  removed  from  the  truth.  He 
felt  now  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and  that  Heph- 
zibah was  not  of  the  fiber  to  take  on  polish  readily. 
He  would  show  his  gratitude  in  some  more  ap- 
propriate way  than  by  attempting  her  education. 
But  since  he  had  blundered  into  this  rather  absurd 
situation,  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  go  through 
with  it. 

"You  do  not  have  to  use  your  education  in  teach- 
ing school,  unless  you  wish  to,"  he  explained  pa- 
tiently. "But  it  will  fit  you  for  a  better  social  po- 
sition." He  realized  that  this  was  over  her  head 
and  kindly  simplified  it.  "I  mean  that  the  more  you 
learn,  the  nicer  friends  you  will  have  and  the  more 
things  you  will  find  to  interest  you." 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  177 

*T  know  enough  now,"  Hephzibah  insisted  calmly, 
"for  anybody  that  ain't  a  teacher.  When  I  went  to 
district  school  I  learned  to  read  and  write  and  fig- 
ure, and  I  'most  always  stood  up  till  near  the  last 
when  we  had  spelling  matches.  Oh,  I've  got  an 
education  all  right." 

"Possibly,  my  child,  it  would  be  better  to  rely  on 
the  judgment  of  some  one  else."  His  manner  was 
patiently  paternal. 

Hephzibah  Diggs  shuffled  her  feet  noisily.  "I 
guess  I  know  enough  to  'tend  to  my  own  affairs," 
she  said,  her  tone  truculent. 

"I'm  not  so  sure  about  that,  Hephzibah.  I  think 
you  would  do  much  better  to  take  advice." 

"How'd  you  like  it  yourself  if  folks  you  didn't 
know  came  butting  in,  telling  you  how  to  manage 
your  business  ?" 

"If  it  was  meant  kindly,  I  should  be  grateful." 

"Oh,  very  well."  He  could  hear  that  she  was 
breathing  hard.  "Then  I'll  tell  you  that  for  a  sen- 
sible man  you're  making  as  big  a  botch  of  your  af- 
fairs as  anybody  I  ever  knew  of." 

Forbes  was  unfeignedly  astonished.  "Why, 
Hephzibah,  you  don't  know  what  you're  talking 
about." 


178  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Don't  I,  though.  I  know  about  that  girl  of 
yours,  and  what  a  fool  she's  making  of  you." 

Forbes  caught  his  breath.  Then  he  realized  that 
it  was  beneath  his  dignity  to  be  angry.  "I  think  it 
is  hardly  necessary,"  he  said  stiffly,  "to  discuss  that 
subject,  Hephzibah." 

"Oh,  no!  you  can  stick  your  finger  into  my  pie 
all  you  want  to.  You  can  tell  me  I  ought  to  go  to 
some  place  I  never  heard  of,  with  somebody  I  never 
knew,  and  do  everything  I  hate  for  years  and  years, 
but  when  I  say  one  thing  about  your  girl,  it's  hardly 
necessary  to  discuss  that  subject." 

The  last  words  were  given  with  what  he  realized 
was  an  excellent  imitation  of  his  own  air  of  dignified 
aloofness.  This  amused  him  and  had  the  additional 
effect  of  mollifying  his  irritation.  "But  I  am  in- 
terfering in  your  affairs,  because  I  have  your  inter- 
ests at  heart,"  he  said  very  kindly. 

"Same  here.  I  hate  like  the  mischief  to  see  a  nice 
gentleman  made  a  fool  of  by  a  vain,  silly  girl  with 
about  as  much  brains  as  a  cockroach,  and  as  much 
heart  as  a  pancake." 

This  description  of  Julia,  though  he  would  have 
indignantly  denied  that  it  had  the  remotest  resem- 
blance to  truth,  roused  him  to  the  realization  that 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  179 

this  uncouth  young  woman  knew  more  of  his  per-* 
sonal  affairs  than  she  had  any  right  to  know. 

**Hephzibah,"  he  said  sternly,  "I  don't  understand 
where  you  could  have  secured  Information  about 
any  friends  of  mine.   Surely  Miss  Kent — " 

For  all  her  faults,  Hephzibah  was  capable  of  mag- 
nanimity. On  one  critical  occasion  Miss  Kent  had 
sacrificed  Hephzibah's  reputation  to  save  herself, 
and  Hephzibah  was  under  no  obligation  to  spare 
hers.  Yet  without  hesitation  she  threw  herself  into 
the  breach.    "I  listened,"  she  explained  quickly. 

"You  mean  when  Miss  Kent  was  reading  me  my 
letters?"  His  flushed  face  told  that  he  was  not  dis- 
posed to  belittle  her  eavesdropping. 

"Yes,  and  when  you  talked  things  over.  I  heard 
enough  to  know  that  you'd  better  use  the  brains  the 
Lord  gave  you  to  manage  your  own  affairs.  Why 
don't  you  put  it  up  to  that  girl  of  yours  that  she  can 
tal^e  you  or  leave  you  ?" 

"Really,  Hephzibah—" 

"Ph,  it's  all  right  for  you  to  come  along  and  pry 
into  my  business,  and  tell  me  what  I'm  to  do.  But 
when  I  turn  the  tables  you  squirm.  Funny  what  a 
difference  it  makes  whose  foot  the  shoe's  on." 

Forbes  subsided.    Under  his  feeling  of  bewilder- 


180  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ment  was  a  vague  suspicion  that  perhaps  there  was 
something  in  Hephzibah's  point  of  view. 

"In  the  first  place,"  continued  this  intrepid  young 
woman,  *'she  showed  she  was  no  good  when  she 
throwed  you  down  hke  she  did.  She  was  going  to 
marry  you,  wasn't  she?  And  if  she  cared  enough 
about  you  for  that,  it  was  up  to  her  to  stand  by  you 
when  trouble  came.  Pretty  kind  of  wife  she'd  have 
made  if  she  turned  her  back  the  minute  hard  luck 
struck  you." 

Forbes  remembered  vaguely  that  Miss  Kent  had 
once  said  something  similar.  He  wondered  that  two 
human  beings  so  unlike  should  have  the  same  view- 
point. 

"You  got  off  easy,"  Hephzibah  continued.  "You 
might  have  married  her.  When  she  showed  herself 
up  for  what  she  was,  you'd  ought  to  have  got  down 
on  your  marrow-bones  and  thanked  the  Lord.  But 
look  at  you !  Instead,  you  keep  on  telling  her  how 
much  you  love  her  and  that  a  yellow  streak  don't 
matter — in  a  woman." 

Forbes  suddenly  realized  that  he  could  endure  no 
more.  He  could  not  listen  longer  to  these  prepos- 
terous statements.  But  underneath  his  panic  of 
anger,  something  whispered  that  he  shrank  from  lis- 


i 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  181 

tening  longer  to  Hephzibah's  frantic  speech,  not  be- 
cause she  was  uttering  slanders  against  Julia,  but 
because  what  she  said  was  true. 

He  struck  the  arm  of  his  chair  with  his  clenched 
fist  "Stop!"  he  said  in  a  voice  unlike  his  own. 
"I  won't  listen." 

"All  right,"  said  Hephzibah  Diggs.  "But  what's 
sauce  for  the  goose — " 

She  stopped,  starting  to  her  feet.  The  blow  from 
Forbes'  fist  had  loosened  the  arm  of  the  chair  in 
which  he  sat.  It  had  bounced  out  of  place  and  then 
slipped  back  again,  catching  his  finger  as  it  returned 
to  base.  It  was  his  sudden  startling  pallor  that 
checked  Hephzibah's  fluency. 

"Can  you  help  me  a  little — Hephzibah  ?"  Forbes* 
voice  was  faint,  his  lips  blue.  "My  hand — seems 
caught." 

Hephzibah's  clattering  haste  was  too  late  to  save 
him  from  ignominious  faintness.  He  had  not  been 
well  since  his  trip  to  the  city,  and  the  shock  of  the 
pain  was  too  much  for  his  nerves.  She  caught  the 
arm  of  the  chair  and  wrenched  it  savagely  away, 
just  as  his  head  fell  over  against  her  shoulder.  She 
released  the  imprisoned  hand,  and  slipping  her  arm 
f.bout  him  kept  his  limp  body  from  sliding  to  the 


182  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

floor.  Upon  his  white  face,  she  saw,  conscience- 
stricken,  there  seemed  to  rest  an  expression  of 
piteous  bewilderment. 

Forbes  reviving  found  himself  indoors.  He  was 
stretched  on  the  couch  in  the  living-room.  The  odor 
of  camphor  was  much  in  evidence  and  his  hair  felt 
damp,  as  if  he  had  been  taking  a  dip  in  the  surf. 
Some  one  was  chafing  his  hand.  "Hephzibah,"  he 
said  faintly. 

The  voice  of  Miss  Kent  answered  him,  speaking 
in  a  muffled  fashion,  as  if  she  had  a  cold  in  her  head. 

"She's  gone.  That  hoiTible  girl  is  gone.  She 
shall  never  come  near  you  again." 

Even  after  his  late  experience  the  adjective 
seemed  to  indicate  prejudice.  But  he  did  not  press 
the  point,  as  there  was  another  matter  he  wished 
cleared  up. 

"Did  I  frighten  you  terribly  ?" 

"Yes — I  was  frightened."  Her  voice  shook  as  if 
she  wanted  to  cry  again.  "You're  not  so  strong  as 
I  thought.  I  shall  have  to  take  better  care  of  you. 
I  blame  myself — terribly." 

This  was  unreasonable,  but  he  did  not  stop  to  ar- 
gue the  case.  "Was  that  why  you  kissed  me?"  he 
asked.    "I  didn't  seem  to  come  to  all  at  once ;  con- 


TURNS  THE  TABLES  183 

5ciousness  came  in  waves  and  receded,  you  know, 
and  once  I  felt  sure  some  one  kissed  my  cheek,  and 
a  big  tear  splashed  down — " 

Miss  Kent  spoke  hastily.  "Oh,  that  was  only 
part  of  your  dreaming.  Fainting  people  often  have 
such  fancies." 

"Very  likely,"  Forbes  agreed.  "You  see,  I  don't 
know  much  about  fainting.  It  never  happened  to  me 
but  once  before."  He  turned  his  head  on  his  damp 
pillow  and  lapsed  into  silence.  It  was  the  part  of 
discretion,  perhaps,  to  leave  Miss  Kent  under  the 
impression  that  the  kiss  was  an  illusion,  due  to  his 
semi-conscious  state,  but  he  knew  better.  It  was  as 
real  as  music,  or  flame,  or  electricity.  It  had  certain 
characteristics  of  all  three. 

It  must  have  been  Hephzibah. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CONGRATULATIONS   ARE  IN   ORDER 

MURRAY  PRENDERGAST  had  proposed. 
The  summer  sport  had  become  dead  ear- 
nest. JuHa  wrote  Forbes  the  full  details,  explaining 
that  the  young  man  was  awaiting  her  answer,  and 
that  she  had  asked  two  weeks  in  which  to  come  to  a 
decision.  Apparently  Julia,  like  Miss  Finch,  felt 
that  to  refuse  Prendergast  would  be  flying  in  the 
face  of  Providence,  even  though  accepting  him 
seemed  a  harsh  necessity. 

"  Tt's  not  what  you  and  I  dreamed  of  in  the  dear 
old  days,' "  MTote  Julia.  "  *0h,  Burton,  how  far 
away  those  happy  times  seem  when  we  sat  hand  in 
hand  and  planned  our  future.  How  merciless  life  is. 
Burton!  Is  there  some  dark  fate  in  whose  hands 
we  are  only  puppets  ?'  " 

Agatha  broke  off  in  her  reading  to  lift  a  scarlet 
face.    "Must  I  go  on  with  this  ?" 

184 


CONGRATULATIONS  185 

"Do  you  mean  that  you're  tired?"  Forbes'  voice 
was  self -controlled  but  in  his  pale  cheeks  a  pulse 
beat  like  a  trip  hammer.  Even  his  tears  would  not 
have  hurt  her  like  that  palpitating  spot  over  which 
his  will  was  powerless. 

"Yes,  I  am  tired.  I'm  terribly  tired  of  the  peo- 
ple who  talk  about  fate  when  it's  all  their  own 
cowardice,  and  pity  themselves  for  losing  what  they 
deliberately  threw  away." 

"It's  a  matter  of  view-point,"  said  Forbes  tone- 
lessly.  "If  that's  all,  I'm  afraid  I  must  ask  you  to 
go  on.  I — I  could  hardly  have  Howard  read  it." 
All  at  once  his  white  cheek  showed  a  stain  of  red, 
as  if  the  mere  thought  that  any  eyes  but  his  own 
should  see  that  letter  was  humiliating  beyond  en- 
durance. 

Julia's  letter  was  as  long  as  usual  and  decidedly 
more  sentimental.  She  surrendered  herself  with 
abandon  to  the  luxury  of  heart-break.  She  recalled 
a  number  of  tender  episodes,  and  wondered  pathet- 
ically why  fate  could  not  have  spared  lovers  so  fond. 
To  Agatha,  Julia's  melancholy  was  a  theatrical 
make-believe  on  the  face  of  it,  as  much  a  pose  as  her 
pretense  of  affection.  Agatha  did  her  best  to  spoil 
the  effect  of  the  letter  by  reading  rapidly,  and  in  a 


186  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

monotonous  sing-song,  but  she  could  not  keep  her 
eyes  from  the  face  of  the  man  before  her,  and  she 
saw  that  every  tender  memory  the  missive  evoked 
found  response  in  his  tortured  heariE. 

She  wound  up  breathless  and  hot  and  trembling 
uncontrollably.  Forbes  thanked  her  with  a  formal 
courtesy  that  added  to  her  pain,  for  it  seemed  to  set 
her  at  a  distance.  She  wanted  to  put  her  arms  about 
him,  and  cry  over  him,  and  tell  him  tha?  the  hurt 
would  not  last.  Then  she  remembered  with  bitter- 
ness that  she  was  a  withered  old  woman  in  whose 
heart  the  fires  of  love  had  burned  to  ashes,  long, 
long  before,  if  indeed  they  had  ever  been  kindled. 

"I'd  like  a  sheet  of  paper,  please,"  Forbes  said 
with  the  same  laborious  politeness.  "I'll  scrawl  a 
line  myself." 

"What  are  you  going  to  tell  her?" 

His  air  of  surprise  at  the  question  indicated  that 
there  was  but  one  answer.  "What  is  there  to  say, 
except  to  wish  her  all  happiness?" 

"You're  not  going  to  blame  her,  then  ?" 

"God  forbid."  He  took  the  sheet  she  gave  him, 
wrote  upon  it  rapidly  and  folding  it  across,  handed 
it  back  to  her.  "I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  direct  the 
envelope  for  me,"  he  said,  still  heart-breakingly  pa- 


CONGRATULATIONS  187 

tient.  "I  can  write  well  enough  for  Julia's  eyes,  but 
not  for  Uncle  Sam's." 

Agatha  did  not  reply.  The  breeze,  always  fresh 
upon  the  porch,  had  parted  the  folded  sheet,  and  her 
reluctant  gaze  caught  the  signature,  "Always  yours, 
B.  F."  She  turned  away  her  eyes  and  caught  her 
breath.  "Always  yours."  That  was  the  cruelty  of 
it.  Julia  would  marry  Murray  Prendergast  and  yet 
keep  her  hold  on  the  heart  of  the  man  she  had  aban- 
doned in  his  need.  Her  selfishness  could  not  alter 
his  loyalty.  If  the  letter  just  read  did  not  reveal 
her  to  him  in  her  incomparable  egotism,  nothing 
ever  would. 

Agatha's  heart  bled  for  him  in  his  white  resigna- 
tion. If  he  had  done  anything  but  sit  there  like  a 
man  under  sentence  of  death,  she  would  have  felt 
equal  to  the  occasion.  But  this  white  suffering  terri- 
fied her.  She  dared  not  trust  herself  to  look  at  him, 
for  her  eyes  ran  over  at  the  sight  of  his  drawn  face. 
She  stared  out  over  the  serene  landscape  as  she  said 
unsteadily,  "Did  you  ask  her  to  wait?" 

"Wait?  Why  wait?" 

"For  you  to  get  well,  of  course.  If  she's  so  fond 
of  you,  she  ought  to  be  able  to  wait  a  year  or  two 
until  you've  recovered  your  sight." 


188  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  without  replying,  but 
the  gesture  revealed  more  than  hopelessness,  some- 
thing alarmingly  akin  to  indifference.  And  though 
Agatha  knew  that  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  this 
mood  could  not  last,  it  added  fuel  to  her  hatred  of 
the  shallow,  selfish  woman  who  was  responsible.  In 
her  serener  moments  Agatha  comforted  herself  by 
the  reflection  that  however  unhappy  Forbes  might 
be  without  Julia,  he  was  bound  to  be  more  unhappy 
with  her.  But  in  the  present  crisis  that  consolation 
failed  her.  She  was  swayed  by  the  desire  to  give 
him,  at  all  costs,  the  thing  he  wanted. 

Her  plan  was  formed  in  an  instant.  Agatha  was 
aware  that  with  many  women  as  with  all  men,  undis- 
puted possession  tends  to  indifference.  Forbes'  one 
chance  with  Julia,  she  implicitly  believed,  was  to 
awaken  in  the  mind  of  that  complacent  young 
woman  a  doubt  as  to  whether  her  unfortunate  lover 
was  in  reality  hers  always,  as  he  declared  himself. 
Forbes,  who  scorned  to  ask  even  for  a  few  months' 
delay,  could  not  be  expected  to  lend  himself  to  the 
scheme  unfolding  in  Agatha's  fancy.  Some  friend 
must  do  for  him  what  he  would  not  stoop  to  do  for 
himself. 

As  Agatha  walked  to  the  writing-desk,  holding 


CONGRATULATIONS  189 

the  folded  sheet  pinched  shut  with  thumb  and  finger, 
for  fear  of  again  reading  the  assurance  of  Forbes' 
unalterable  devotion,  there  was  something  oddly- 
gallant  in  her  bearing.  Her  keen  common  sense  was 
temporarily  quiescent.  Her  heart  had  things  all  its 
own  way.  Since  the  prospect  of  losing  JuHa  irrev- 
ocably had  graven  that  terrible  look  upon  Forbes' 
face,  she  must  find  some  way  of  making  Julia  hesi- 
tate to  engage  herself  to  Prendergast.  There  was 
but  one  chance,  as  far  as  Agatha  could  see.  She 
resolved  to  take  it. 

No  one  could  consider  it  singular,  Agatha  de- 
cided, as  she  seated  herself,  if  an  amiable  old  lady- 
should  send  a  note  of  congratulation  to  the  girl  to 
whom  she  had  penned  so  many-  communications. 
Agatha  almost  snatched  the  stationery-  from  the 
drawer.  She  had  a  most  unnatural  fear  of  losing 
her  courage  by  delay.  At  the  moment  she  lacked 
neither  courage  nor  inspiration. 

"My  Dear  Miss  Studley  : 

"I'm  sure  you  will  pardon  a  line  from  a  woman 
old  enough  to  be  your  grandmother." 

Agatha  paused,  bit  her  pen  and  frowned.  "I  am, 
of  course,"  she  told  herself,  with  that  odd  impres- 


190  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

sion  of  dual  identity,  which  at  times  made  it  difficult 
for  her  to  remember  whether  she  was  nineteen  or 
sixty-seven.  *'But  it  isn't  worth  while  to  make  her 
feel  so  youthful."  She  reached  for  a  fresh  sheet 
of  paper  and  made  a  new  start. 

"My  Dear  Miss  Studley  : 

*T  am  sure  you  will  pardon  a  line  from  a  woman 
old  enough  to  be  your  mother,  who  has  come  to  feel 
right  well  acquainted  with  you  through  Mr,  Forbes, 
and  through  reading  your  letters  aloud  to  him.  I 
want  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  congratulate  you,  and 
to  wish  you  all  the  happiness  you  deserve." 

Her  pen  poised  in  air,  Agatha  combated  the 
temptation  to  underline  the  last  two  words.  "It's 
exactly  what  I  do  wish  her,"  she  mused.  "All  the 
happiness  she  deserves,  not  a  bit  more  nor  a  bit 
less.  Poor  wretch,  it's  an  inhuman  sort  of  wish  but 
I  can't  help  it,  and  I'm  afraid  she  won't  realize  that 
I'm  consigning  her  to  Purgatory." 

The  pen  resumed  its  hurried  scratching.  It  was 
not  necessary  for  Agatha  to  wait  for  inspiration. 
Words  came  in  a  flood. 

"Some  people  might  blame  you  for  your  engage- 
ment, so  soon  after  breaking  with  Mr.  Forbes,  but 
I  assure  you  I  do  not  feel  that  way.    I  am  unmarried 


CONGRATULATIONS  191 

myself,  and  I  know  that  when  a  woman  loses  one 
chance,  she  may  never  get  another.  Mr.  Forbes 
might  die  or  change  his  mind.  I  think  you  are  very 
sensible  to  make  sure  of  Mr.  Prendergast  while 
he  is  in  the  mood.  Whatever  ill-natured  people  may 
say  about  you,  I  for  one  will  always  take  this  view." 

Agatha  drew  a  long  breath  of  pure  satisfaction. 
She  had  undertaken  the  letter  with  the  sole  thought 
of  rushing  to  Forbes'  assistance  in  his  extremity. 
But  virtue  was  proving  its  own  reward.  She  was 
enjoying  herself  immensely.  ,  Her  sense  of  satis- 
faction made  her  reckless.  When  again  the  pen  be- 
gan moving  down  the  sheet,  it  wrote  more  than 
Agatha  had  originally  intended. 

"I  suppose  you  sometimes  feel  a  little  anxious 
about  Mr,  Forbes  and  his  future.  It  is  hard  for  us 
women  to  get  rid  of  a  feeling  of  responsibility  for 
the  men  who  love  us.  And  I  am  glad  I  can  set  your 
natural  misgivings  at  rest.  It  would  not  be  a  great 
surprise  to  me  if  you  should  hear  of  another  engage- 
ment in  the  near  future.  Yet  Mr.  Forbes  is  a  very 
honorable  gentleman,  I  need  not  assure  you,  and 
as  long  as  you  were  unmarried,  or  at  least  not  en- 
gaged, he  would  not  have  permitted  himself  to  be- 
come entangled  with  any  other  woman.  But  this 
summer  he  has  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  with  a  girl 
who  lives  in  the  neighborhood.  She  is  considered 
extremely  pretty  and  though  that  does  not  mean  any- 
thing to  him  at  present,  it  is  evident  that  he  finds 


192  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

her  company  most  enjoyable.  Indeed  I  believe  he 
is  more  interested  in  her  than  he  himself  realizes, 
while  the  fact  that  she  has  devoted  practically  her 
entire  summer  to  him,  seems  to  indicate  that  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  bring  her  to  think  of  him 
as  something  more  than  a  friend.  And  I've  noticed 
that  she  seems  quite  responsive  when  he  pats  her 
hand  or  holds  it,  as  he  has  a  way  of  doing.  I  sup- 
pose he  feels  that  an  invalid  has  a  right  to  some  lit- 
tle privileges.  On  one  occasion  he  did  so  far  forget 
himself  as  to  take  her  in  his  arms,  but  the  circum- 
stances were  quite  unusual,  and  I  saw  to  it  that  the 
indiscretion  was  never  repeated.  I  always  manage 
to  be  around  when  the  young  people  are  together, 
for,  as  our  beloved  Longfellow  expresses  it,  'Man  is 
iire  and  woman  is  tow.' 

*T'm  afraid  I  am  a  poor  one  to  talk  about  dis- 
cretion when  I  am  writing  you  all  this.  I'm  sure  if 
Mr.  Forbes  knew  he  would  be  very  much  put  out 
with  me,  and  so  I  am  going  to  ask  you  not  to  speak 
of  this  if  you  should  happen  to  write  again.  Very 
likely  Mr.  Prendergast  will  not  approve  of  your 
corresponding  with  an  old  flame,  and  who  can  blame 
him,  for  as  Will  Carlton  says  so  ably,  'She  that  is 
false  to  one  can  be  the  same  with  two,'  or  words  to 
that  effect.  I'm  afraid  my  memory  is  not  what  it 
once  was. 

"Excuse  this  garrulous  letter.  How  I  have  nm  on 
about  Mr.  Forbes  instead  of  merely  carrying  out  my 
first  intention,  and  wishing  you  the  future  you  so 
richly  deserve.  Very  truly  yours, 

"Agatha  Kent." 


CONGRATULATIONS  193 

Agatha  re-read  the  closely  written  sheets  with 
growing  delectation.  In  every  respect  they  measured 
up  to  her  anticipations.  She  had  expressed  her 
sentiments  toward  Julia  with  a  plainness  she  would 
hardly  have  believed  possible  in  a  letter  superficially 
observing  the  amenities  of  civilized  life.  She  had 
planted  some  barbed  suggestions  where  she  flattered 
herself  they  would  render  the  reader  most  uncom- 
fortable. But  that  was  not  all.  It  is  a  thoroughly 
human  weakness  to  wish  to  eat  one's  cake  and  have 
it  too,  and  Agatha  suspected  Julia  of  having  more 
than  her  share  of  this  familiar  characteristic.  Julia, 
so  Agatha  argued,  saw  herself  the  irreproachable 
wife  of  a  wealthy  man,  enjoying  all  the  dignities 
incident  to  the  Prendergast  social  sphere,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  object  of  another  man's  hopeless 
adoration.  The  doubt  Agatha's  letter  suggested, 
that  she  could  continue  without  a  rival  to  rule  in 
Forbes'  affections,  was,  in  Agatha's  opinion,  Forbes' 
one  chance  to  keep  her  from  the  decieive  step. 

Agatha  enclosed  Forbes'  brief  communication 
with  her  own  lengthy  one  and  despatched  it  by 
Howard  before  qualms  could  assail  her  as  to  the 
advisability  of  dropping  this  particular  bomb  into 


194  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

the  enemy's  camp.  She  knew  vaguely  that  a  host 
of  suggestions  stood  marshaled  at  the  back  of  her 
brain,  ready  to  demonstrate  conclusively  her  lack 
of  wisdom.  If  Julia  did  not  choose  to  consider  the 
letter  confidential,  trouble  would  ensue.  The  fact 
that  Agatha  saw  all  Forbes'  letters,  and  that  he 
knew  only  what  she  chose  to  tell  him,  gave  her  but 
slight  advantage,  since  she  confessed  to  scruples  in 
the  matter  of  other  people's  letters.  And  if  it  had 
the  result  she  believed  possible,  and  Julia  refused  to 
engage  herself  to  Prendergast  till  Forbes'  recovery 
was  certain  or  proved  impossible,  Agatha  could  not 
congratulate  herself  on  having  assured  her  friend's 
happiness. 

"I'm  afraid  I'm  a  good  deal  like  a  mother  who 
gives  the  baby  the  scissors  to  play  with  because  he 
cries  for  them.  Only  with  a  baby  you  can  distract 
its  attention,  and  make  it  think  that  something  else 
is  just  as  good,  and  with  Burton  Forbes  that 
wouldn't  work." 

And  then  having  satisfied  herself  by  peering 
through  the  window  that  Forbes'  face  still  wore  the 
dazed  look  of  a  creature  incomprehensibly  wounded, 
Agatha  threw  herself  upon  the  couch  and  sought  the 
relief  of  tears.    She  wept  as  she  did  everything  else. 


CONGRATULATIONS  195 

Hot  tears  rained  down  upon  the  pillow.  Sobs  shook 
her.  Every  now  and  then  mirth  got  the  upper  hand 
and  she  laughed  hysterically,  interrupting,  though 
briefly,  the  Niobe-like  activities. 

The  storm  was  over  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun. 
Agatha  rose  and  regarded  her  swollen  features  in 
the  mirror  with  much  disfavor. 

"I  suppose  it's  no  use  to  put  powder  on  my  nose. 
It  would  only  look  like  a  strawberry  sprinkled  with 
sugar.  And  anyway,  Mr.  Forbes  can't  see  what  a 
fright  I  am." 

As  if  that  thought  had  a  miraculously  sustaining 
power,  Agatha  drew  a  long  breath  and  passed  into 
the  kitchen  to  help  Phemie  with  the  dinner. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CONFIDENCES 


A  GATHA  had  reached  the  conclusion  that  Julia 
I  \  was  more  venal  than  vain.  A  full  week  she 
had  awaited  a  sign  that  her  ruse  had  succeeded.  For 
seven  creeping  days,  dry-lipped  and  with  unsteady 
pulses,  she  had  scanned  the  mail  for  a  letter  directed 
in  Julia's  familiar,  hateful  hand,  and  in  the  begin- 
ning she  could  not  have  told  whether  there  was  more 
of  hope  or  of  apprehension  in  her  expectancy. 

But  now  she  knew  by  the  way  her  heart  was  sing- 
ing. Her  insane  attempt  to  give  Forbes  the  thing  he 
wanted,  whatever  the  consequences,  had  gloriously 
failed.  She  had  played  a  friend's  part,  if  a  fool's 
part,  and  had  not  been  punished  by  success.  Natur- 
ally Forbes'  numerous  letters  had  never  made  the 
slightest  reference  to  an  attractive  young  girl,  who 
was  devoting  her  summer  to  rendering  his  exile 
tolerable,  and  such  an  omission  would  have  awak- 

196 


CONFIDENCES  197 

ened  doubt  in  the  least  suspicious  nature.  To  Agatha, 
Julia's  continued  silence,  in  the  face  of  such  facts, 
was  convincing  proof  that  she  had  thrown  up  her 
hand  and  was  out  of  the  game. 

Agatha  had  fought  Forbes'  depression  stubbornly 
while  the  week  was  young,  and  then  as  hope 
strengthened,  with  an  audacious,  irresistible  gaiety 
that  occasionally  swept  him  off  his  feet.  Never  had 
it  seemed  so  difficult  to  simulate  age.  A  score  of 
times  a  day  she  found  it  necessary  to  strangle  a  peal 
of  girlish  laughter,  or  tone  it  down  to  the  subdued 
quaver  appropriate  to  her  years.  It  was  incredibly 
irksome  to  subject  her  buoyant  feet  to  the  yoke  of 
decorum.  Never  had  she  so  courted  exposure  as  now 
when  the  lightening  of  her  heart  impelled  her  to  all 
sorts  of  foolish  youthful  pranks.  Miss  Finch 
watched  her  in  dumb  fascinated  terror.  And  Forbes 
despite  his  abysmal  gloom,  found  himself  responding 
with  astonishing  frequency  to  her  whirlwind  spirits. 

She  woke  early  the  morning  of  the  eighth  day  and 
lay  musing,  too  pleasurably  excited  to  fall  asleep 
again.  Julia  was  out  of  the  way.  She  had  engaged 
herself  deliberately  to  another  man,  and  now  it  was 
not  Julia  but  a  radiant  memory  against  which  she 
must  pit  her  wit  and  beauty.  Had  Agatha  been  older 


198  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

she  might  have  questioned  whether  this  were  an 
occasion  for  self -congratulation,  since  the  unfading, 
perfect  dream  has  an  undeniable  advantage  over 
fading  and  faulty  beauty.  But  thanks  to  her  inex- 
perience, the  removal  of  Julia  from  her  path  left 
her  with  a  reckless  confidence  in  her  star.  There  was 
a  tangled  web  to  be  unraveled,  to  be  sure,  before 
matters  were  established  on  a  satisfactory  footing, 
but  her  blithe  hopefulness  hurdled  these  grim  pre- 
liminaries, and  busied  itself  with  a  future  all  rose- 
color. 

A  sound  in  the  next  room  roused  Agatha  from  her 
sanguine  self-communion,  the  plaintive  little  whine 
of  Miss  Finch's  creaking  rocking  chair.  Agatha 
sprang  out  of  bed,  and  carried  her  watch  to  the 
window.  The  faint  light  showed  the  hour  hand  still 
plodding  on  toward  four  o'clock,  no  hour  surely  for 
Zaida  Finch  to  be  indulging  her  propensity  for  rock- 
ing chairs. 

A  white-clad  figure,  censoriously  erect,  appeared 
in  Miss  Finch's  doorway.  Miss  Finch  gasped, 
jumped,  and  made  a  rush  for  her  bed,  as  if  with  the 
hope  of  persuading  her  youthful  visitor  that  the 
sound  of  footsteps  had  roused  her  from  peaceful 
slumbers.    Then  realizing  the  futility  of  evasion, 


CONFIDENCES  199 

she  stopped  short,  and  stood  with  hanging  head, 
her  air  of  confusion  together  with  her  diminutive 
figure,  giving  her  the  appearance  of  a  naughty  child. 

"Fritz,"  began  Agatha  impressively,  "why  on 
earth  aren't  you  asleep?"  As  she  came  closer  her 
judicial  air  changed  to  consternation.  Miss  Finch's 
pale  little  eyes  showed  red  even  in  the  dim  light. 
Her  small  nose  was  redder  still.  Her  thin  cheeks 
were  wet  with  tears. 

"Fritz,  dear,"  cried  the  girl,  her  voice  vibrant 
with  tenderness,  "are  you  sick?  Does  you  head 
ache  ?  Get  into  bed  and  let  me  make  you  comfortable. 
Why  didn't  you  call  me  ?   I've  been  awake  an  age." 

This  affectionate  concern  was  too  much  for  Miss 
Finch's  self-control.  As  she  climbed  into  bed,  she 
gave  way  to  loud  sobs.  Agatha  hung  over  her, 
distressed  and  vaguely  self-reproachful,  because  she 
had  not  discovered  earlier  the  urgent  need  of  her 
presence.  ' 

"Don't  cry,  Fritzie !  Shall  I  get  you  the  hot  water 
bottle,  or  is  it  the  camphor  that  you  need?  Where 
does  it  hurt  ?"  She  patted  the  little  sob-shaken  figure 
with  a  motherly  hand.  Even  when  not  impersonating 
her  great-aunt,  Agatha  frequently  felt  years  older 
than  Zaida  Finch.  ' 


200  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

It  took  a  minute  to  elicit  an  answer.  It  came 
finally  in  a  little  sniffly  whisper. 

"My  head's  all  right,  Agatha." 

"Probably  that  short-cake  disagreed  with  you. 
I  wondered  at  the  time,  if  two  helps  weren't  too 
many,  with  the  whipped  cream." 

"My  stomach's  all  right,  too,"  declared  Miss 
Finch,  a  trifle  pettishly. 

"Then  where's  the  pain  ?" 

Miss  Finch  deliberated.  Her  tears  gushed  afresh. 
"I — guess  it's  in  my  heart.     I'm  worried,  Agatha." 

Agatha  sat  down  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  and 
sighed  remorsefully. 

"I  know  it's  been  a  hard  summer  for  you,  Fritz. 
All  this  deception  Is  very  trying  for  one  of  your  can- 
did temperament.  I  should  mind  it  frightfully  my- 
self if  it  wasn't  for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  But  I 
adored  amateur  theatricals  when  I  was  in  boarding- 
school,  and  this  is  exactly  the  same,  except  that  you 
have  to  make  up  your  part  as  you  go  along.  I  knew 
that  you'd  been  worrying,  but  I  didn't  dream  how 
dreadfully  you'd  taken  it  to  heart." 

Miss  Finch  opened  one  swollen  eye.  She  looked 
rather  taken  aback. 

"I  don't  deny  all  this  deception  has  worried  me. 


CONFIDENCES  201 

Agatha.  But  just  now — I  was  thinking  of  some- 
thing else.  I'm  worried  about  my  own  affairs." 

For  a  moment  Agatha  was  nonplused.  Miss  Finch 
was  one  of  the  people  who  seem  to  be  without  per- 
sonal "affairs."  She  had  no  relatives  to  die,  no 
money  to  lose,  no  friends  to  disappoint  her,  no  pros- 
pects to  be  overcast.  She  was  painfully  immune 
against  loss,  by  comprehensive  lack.  Then  on  Aga- 
tha's incredulity  flashed  the  recollection  of  Deacon 
Wiggins  and  James  Doolittle.  In  her  absorption 
with  her  own  concerns  she  had  forgotten  that  Miss 
Finch  stood  at  a  cross-roads,  doubtful  which  turning 
to  take.  "Oh,  Fritzie,"  she  cried  self-reproach  fully, 
"I  hope  nothing's  gone  wrong  with  your  love- 
affairs." 

Miss  Finch's  grief  lost  something  of  its  poignancy. 
Agatha's  exclamation  seemed  to  establish  her  status. 
It  was  something  to  know  love's  pangs,  even  though 
ignorant  of  its  joys.  Her  husky  voice  was  controlled 
as  she  replied,  "The  trouble  is  that  they  haven't  gone 
at  all,  right  or  wrong." 

"Oh!"  Agatha  became  meditative  and  Miss 
Finch's  confidences  trickled  on  plaintively,  like  a 
sad-hearted  brook. 

"I  got  another  letter  from  Deacon  Wiggins  yes- 


202  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

terday.  He  said  he  guessed  his  first  must  have  gone 
astray  since  he  hadn't  heard  from  me.  He  went  over 
about  the  same  ground  as  he  did  in  the  first  letter 
and  he  put  in  a  lot  of  Scripture,  It  gives  one  a  feel- 
ing that  a  man  can  be  depended  on,  when  he's  got 
so  much  of  the  Bible  at  his  tongue's  end." 

"Well?"  Agatha  interrupted  hopefully. 

"Then  I  met  Mr.  Doolittle  on  the  road  this  after- 
noon and  he  looked  at  me  real  reproachful,  and  said 
he  was  coming  to  see  me  in  a  day  or  two.  I  thought 
he  seemed,"  faltered  Miss  Finch  in  conscience- 
stricken  accents,  "kind  of  thin  and  pale." 

Agatha  suppressed  a  smile.  "You're  keeping  them 
dangling  a  rather  long  time,  Fritz.  I  never  suspected 
you  before  of  being  a  flirt."  Then  as  Miss  Finch 
groaned  aloud,  the  girl  repented  of  her  little  witti- 
cism and  hastened  to  ask,  "Aren't  you  any  nearer  to 
making  up  your  mind  ?" 

"The  trouble  is,  Agatha,"  sighed  Miss  Finch, 
"that  there's  so  many  good  reasons  on  both  sides, 
for  and  against.  I've  thought  and  thought  till  it's 
seemed  as  if  my  head  was  spinning  'round  on  my 
shoulders.  You  see  there  was  a  cousin  of  my 
mother's  who  was  a  second  wife.  She  married  a 
man  named  Flagg,  and  I've  heard  her  tell  Ma  that 


CONFIDENCES  203 

she  got  so  sick  of  hearing  about  the  way  the  first 
Mrs.  Flagg  did  things,  that  if  she'd  risen  up  out  of 
her  grave,  she'd  have  given  her  back  her  husband 
as  quick  as  she'd  have  turned  her  hand  over.  She 
said  he  was  always  talking  about  his  first  wife's 
mince  meat  and  her  mustard  pickles  and  how  saving 
she  was,  till  it  seemed  as  if  there  wasn't  any  use  in 
her  trying  to  do  things  right." 

"Well?"  Agatha  prompted,  more  to  afford  Miss 
Finch  the  relief  of  unburdening  her  mind  than  be- 
cause she  failed  to  see  the  application  of  the  tragedy 
of  the  second  Mrs.  Flagg. 

"Deacon  Wiggins  has  been  married  three  times. 
It's  likely  that  some  one  of  those  three  women 
could  do  pretty  near  everything  better  than  I  can," 
explained  Miss  Finch,  with  characteristic  humility. 
"If  it  was  hard  for  Cousin  Caroline  Flagg  to  have 
one  wife  held  up  to  her  for  an  example  day  and 
night,  I  don't  know  how  I'm  going  to  stand  three 
of  them." 

Agatha  patted  the  limp  hand  clutching  the  damp 
pocket  handkerchief.  "I'm  sure  /  should  find  three 
predecessors  a  drawback.  That's  where  Mr.  Doo- 
little  has  the  advantage." 

"Yes,  he  seems  to  have,  Agatha.   But  there's  no 


204  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

denying  that  a  man  who's  Hved  fifty  years  without 
being  married  to  anybody  gets  dreadfully  set  In  his 
ways.  My  father's  sister  married  a  man  when  he 
was  along  about  fifty,  and  she  was  twenty  years 
younger.  He  was  a  nice  man,  but  stubborn.  For  one 
thing  he  always  kept  a  pair  of  extra  boots  standing 
under  the  bed,  with  the  toes  sticking  out,  so  he  could 
change  quick  If  he  came  In,  Aunt  Hannah  was  one 
of  the  nervous  kind  and  she  had  looked  under  the 
bed  for  a  burglar  all  her  life.  When  she'd  come  Into 
the  room  and  see  the  toes  of  those  boots.  It  always 
gave  her  a  turn,  and  she'd  feel  sure  she'd  found  him 
at  last.  Anybody'd  have  supposed  she'd  get  used 
to  It  after  a  time,  but  she  never  did.  She  tried  her 
hardest  to  get  him  to  keep  his  boots  In  the  closet, 
and  she'd  make  shoe-bags  for  him,  all  bound  around 
with  tape  and  real  pretty-looking,  but  it  wasn't  any 
use.  He  said  he'd  always  kept  his  boots  under  the 
bed,  and  he'd  feel  lost  if  they  was  anywhere  else. 
Seems  as  if  when  a  man  lives  single  long  enough, 
he  gets  to  think  there  ain't  but  one  way  of  doing 
things  and  that's  his." 

"Deacon  Wiggins  should  be  adaptable,  then," 
hazarded  Agatha.  "He's  accommodated  himself  to 
the  ways  of  three  women." 


CONFIDENCES  205 

"There's  another  thing,"  Miss  Finch  continued, 
ignoring  Agatha's  tentative  encouragement.  "And 
that's  the  first  wife's  relations.  I  remember  Cousin 
Caroline  used  to  say  she  didn't  mind  his  folks  drop- 
ping in,  and  of  course  she  didn't  mind  her  folks,  but 
when  his  first  wife's  folks  came  to  Sunday  dinner, 
or  to  spend  the  day,  she  was  on  pins  and  needles. 
And  she  said  if  ever  the  bread  wasn't  as  light  as 
usual,  or  the  roast  got  overdone,  it  would  be  when 
some  of  the  first  Mrs.  Flagg's  relations  stopped  for 
a  meal.  She'd  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
church  from  the  time  she  was  thirteen,  Cousin  Caro- 
line had,  and  she  was  president  of  the  Women's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  but  I've  heard  her  say 
with  my  own  ears  that  she'd  rather  see  the  devil 
coming  up  the  walk  any  day,  than  one  of  the  Sawyer 
tribe — the  first  Mrs.  Flagg  was  a  Sawyer.  And  she 
had  one  set  of  wife's  relations  to  worry  her.  I — I — ' 
if  I  took  Deacon  Wiggins,  I'd  have  three." 

"If  you  married  James  Doolittle,"  contributed 
Agatha  cheer ingly,  "you  wouldn't  be  troubled  in 
that  way." 

"No,  I  wouldn't.  But  I'm  not  sure  that  too  little 
company  wouldn't  be  worse  than  too  much.  Mr. 
Doolittle  ain't  ever  been  what  you'd  call  a  social  man, 


206  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

and  except  for  that  sister  of  his  who  lives  out  west, 
he  hasn't  any  folks  to  speak  of.  And  as  long  as  I 
haven't  any,  I  don't  see  how  between  us  we  could 
scare  up  enough  mourners  for  a  respectable  funeral." 

*'0h,  come,  Fritz,  you're  talking  of  weddings,  not 
funerals.  It  certainly  is  a  pity  that  these  lovers  of 
yours  have  their  advantages — or  disadvantages — so 
evenly  balanced.  It's  like  a  see-saw,  first  one's  down 
and  then  the  other,  and  that  makes  it  hard  to  come 
to  a  decision." 

Miss  Finch  took  the  banter  seriously.  "Yes, 
Agatha,  it  seems  a  wicked  thing,  but  I  almost  wish 
I'd  find  out  something  dreadful  about  one  or  the 
other,  like  drinking  or  Sabbath-breaking,  and  then 
I'd  know  what  to  do.  But  this  weighing  things  and 
trying  to  make  up  my  mind  is  just  wearing  me  out. 
Agatha,  it  ain't  what  I  expected.  I  supposed  it  would 
be  an  awful  pleasant  feeling  to  know  that  two  men 
wanted  you,  but  the  way  it's  turned  out,  I  don't  be- 
lieve I  ever  was  so  worried  in  my  life." 

"Perhaps  proposals  are  like  wisdom  teeth,  Fritz, 
and  the  slower  they  are  coming,  the  more  trouble 
they  make.  But  don't  forget  that  you  aren't  under 
any  obligations  to  take  either  of  these  men.  We 
were  getting  along  fine  before  they  thought  of 


CONFIDENCES  207 

wanting  to  marry  you,  and  if  you  say  no  to  both  of 
them,  you  and  I  will  keep  Old  Maids'  Hall  and  be 
happy  ever  after." 

"I  don't  believe  you're  likely  to  remain  single," 
objected  Miss  Finch  with  perfect  simplicity.  "It's 
a  pity  that  nice  Mr.  Warren  never  came  again.  You 
could  have  had  that  man  if  you'd  tried.  Look  at  the 
chocolates  he  sent  you,  after  only  seeing  you  once, 
and  that  in  your  kitchen  clothes." 

"If  my  name  must  be  either  Kent  or  Warren,  I'll 
stay  an  old  maid  to  the  end  of  my  days." 

"I  don't  see  why  you  don't  like  the  name  Warren, 
Agatha,  and  I  think  Mrs.  Ridgeley  Warren  sounds 
awfully  nice.  But  you're  the  one  to  be  pleased.  It's 
a  pity  Mr.  Forbes  is  so  afflicted.  If  it  wasn't  for  that 
he'd  make  a  grand  husband." 

"Mr.  Forbes'  worst  affliction  at  present,"  pro- 
nounced Agatha  tartly,  "is  being  very  much  in  love 
jvith  an  absolutely  heartless  and  generally  despicable 
young  woman  named  Julia." 

"My  gracious,"  lamented  Miss  Finch.  "Nice  pros- 
pect for  him,  ain't  it  ?" 

"Not  so  bad  as  you'd  think.  She's  going  to  marry 
another  man." 

"Oh!"    Miss  Finch's  limp  hand  came  suddenly 


208  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

to  life,  found  Agatha's  fingers  and  squeezed  them. 
**Maybe  he'll  get  over  it,"  she  hinted. 

"Maybe."  Something  in  Agatha's  tone  suggested 
she  was  smiling. 

"And  then  if  he'd  get  his  eyesight  back,  the  way 
he  expects  to — " 

"Then  he'd  have  to  be  introduced  to  me  all  over 
again.  You  know  he  thinks  I'm  a  kittenish  old  lady 
of  seventy." 

"If  he  doesn't  like  you  better  when  he  finds  you're 
not  quite  twenty,  he's  different  from  most  men, 
that's  all."  There  was  a  new  authority  in  Miss 
Finch's  pronouncement.  She  spoke  as  one  who  knew 
the  sex,  to  whom  its  little  idiosyncrasies  were  an 
open  book.  And  hardly  less  significant  than  the 
change  in  herself  was  the  fact  that  Agatha  accepted 
her  altered  attitude  without  surprise. 

At  the  same  time  the  girl's  impulsive  kiss  on  her 
old  friend's  tear-stained  cheek  was  irrelevantly  ten- 
der. "I  must  go  back  to  bed,"  said  Agatha.  "It'll 
soon  be  time  to  get  up.  And  don't  worry  over  those 
adorers  of  yours.  It'll  do  them  good  to  be  kept 
waiting.  Men — most  men — need  to  have  the  conceit 
taken  out  of  them." 

Though  she  paused  in  the  doorway  to  charge  Miss 


CONFIDENCES  209 

Finch  to  go  to  sleep  immediately,  she  did  not  act 
on  her  own  counsel.  Instead  she  ensconsed  herself 
on  the  broad  sill  of  the  east  window  and  swinging 
her  dangling  bare  feet,  watched  the  face  of  the  sky 
slowly  brighten,  flushing  pink  at  last,  like  the  cheek 
of  a  girl.  Overhead  little  rosy  clouds  floated,  like 
cherubs,  listening  to  the  chorus  of  bird  song  which 
grew  in  volume  moment  by  moment. 

Another  day  was  beginning,  a  good  day,  Agatha 
was  ready  to  believe.  For  though  between  herself 
and  her  heart's  desire  a  tortuous  deception  lay,  to 
be  explained  and  forgiven,  the  prospect  no  longer 
seemed  hopeless.  It  was  an  eminently  satisfactory 
world,  Agatha  decided,  with  Julia  out  of  the  run- 
ning. 


CHAPTER  XV 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH 


THE  kind-hearted  Miss  Kent  had  decreed  a 
hoHday  for  Howard.  With  characteristic 
thought  fulness  she  had  volunteered  to  take  Forbes 
off  his  hands,  and  suggested  they  fill  in  the  time  by 
a  long  walk  with  a  picnic  lunch  in  some  shady  place, 
dinner  to  be  postponed  until  a  convenient  hour  after 
their  return.  Howard  showed  hilarious  approval  of 
the  plan,  and  Forbes  aroused  himself  from  his  melan- 
choly abstraction  sufficiently  to  agree,  whereupon 
Agatha  fell  to  making  sandwiches,  giving  directions 
to  Phemie  as  she  worked. 

Nature  in  the  raw  did  not  appeal  to  Miss  Finch. 
She  hated  long  walks.  She  hated  sitting  on  the  grass ; 
while  sandwiches,  without  an  accompanying  cup  of 
tea,  were  as  ashes  to  her  taste.  The  others  accepted 
her  excuses  with  fortitude,  and  left  her  at  home  to 
see  that  Phemie  did  not  set  the  house  afire,  and  to 
grope  wearily   toward   a   solution   of   her  vexing 

210 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH        211, 

problem.  Howard,  having  stuffed  his  pockets  with  a 
generous  proportion  of  the  sandwiches,  shouldered 
his  fishing  rod  and  departed  to  make  the  most  of  his 
holiday.  And  while  the  fragrant  freshness  of  the 
night  still  lingered  in  the  air,  Forbes  and  Agatha 
set  out  in  the  direction  of  the  woods. 

The  serene  confidence  of  her  morning  vigil  still 
enfolded  Agatha.  She  walked  as  if  keeping  time  to 
music,  inaudible  to  all  ears  but  her  own.  Forbes  had 
insisted  on  carrying  the  basket  of  lunch  which  also 
contained  a  book  or  two,  in  case  their  mood  should 
take  a  literary  turn.  Agatha  kept  fast  hold  of  his 
arm,  the  better  to  steer  his  steps,  and  he  thought 
there  was  a  hint  of  friendliness  in  the  firm  clasp. 
The  lonely  and  unhappy  man  felt  a  disproportionate 
sense  of  gratitude. 

They  walked  and  rested,  strolled  on  and  rested 
again.  Neither  was  inclined  to  talk.  Forbes  had 
plenty  to  occupy  his  thoughts,  and  Agatha,  too,  was 
reflective.  She  realized  that  the  time  was  at  hand 
when  she  must  confess  to  Forbes  the  deception  she 
had  practised  on  him,  or  else  allow  him  to  go  out  of 
her  life  altogether.  Neither  alternative  was  agree- 
able, but  the  latter  was  unthinkable. 

A  scheme  occurred  to  her  so  in  harmony  with  her 
native  audacity  that  she  dallied  with  it  lovingly. 


212  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

before  reluctantly  renouncing  it  as  impracticable. 
She  could  tell  Forbes  that  she  expected  a  visit  from 
her  grand-niece,  Agatha  Kent,  and  prejudice  him  in 
favor  of  the  newcomer  by  assuring  him  of  the 
extraordinary  likeness  existing  between  the  twen- 
tieth-century Agatha  and  her  girlhood  self.  After 
the  new  Agatha's  arrival,  she  could  leave  him  more 
and  more  to  the  society  of  the  younger  woman, 
withdrawing  by  degrees  into  the  background  until 
her  sudden  demise  would  hardly  shock  him,  though 
he  would  naturally  feel  more  or  less  responsible  for 
consoling  her  namesake  and  heir.  Agatha's  final  re- 
jection of  the  plan  was  due  less  to  doubt  of  her 
ability  to  act  the  dual  role,  or  to  manage  the  embar- 
rassing details  of  her  own  interment,  than  to  the 
realization  that  if  her  intimacy  with  Forbes  was  to 
continue,  it  must  be  established  on  a  foundation  of 
absolute  truth.  This  deception  on  which  she  had 
entered  so  light-heartedly,  had  its  sole  excuse  in  the 
impermanence  of  their  relationship.  Before  their 
friendship  could  become  real  there  must  be  perfect 
understanding  between  them. 

They  ate  their  sandwiches  shortly  after  noon, 
washing  them  down  with  deliciously  cool  water  from 
a  convenient  spring.  The  day  had  grown  warm  and 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH        213 

very  still.  "It  feels  as  if  a  thunder-storm  might  be 
brewing,"  Forbes  remarked,  breaking  one  of  the 
periods  of  friendly  silence. 

"I  think  not,"  Agatha  answered  in  a  dreamy 
voice.  "Don't  you  love  this  stillness  here  in  the 
shade?    It's  perfect,  perfect!" 

"  *A  book  of  verses  underneath  the  bough, 
A  loaf  of  bread,  a  jug  of  wine — and  thou,'  '* 

quoted  Forbes  inevitably.  He  was  laughing  but 
the  lines  stirred  her,  and  to  disguise  the  fact  she 
spoke  nonchalantly. 

"There  is  a  book  of  poems  in  the  basket,  but  I 
don't  care  for  reading  to-day,  do  you?  It's  one  of 
the  times  when  you  feel  everything  that  has  ever 
been  written  and  more  too.  You  simply  want  to 
sit  and  think  how  wonderful  it  is  to  be  alive." 

"By  jove,  it's  you  that's  wonderful,"  Forbes  ex- 
claimed. "That  sensitiveness  wears  off  with  most 
people  long  before  they're  my  age,  to  say  nothing 
of  yours.  But  you  feel  the  thrill  of  life  and  the 
mystery  and  the  adventure,  as  if  you  were  a  girl." 

"Yes,"  Agatha  acquiesced,  "I  do." 

"I'd  have  known  it  without  your  telling  me.  It's 
been  a  continual  marvel  all  through  our  acquaint- 


214  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ance,  that  ardent  freshness  of  yours.  It's  confirmed 
my  faith  in  immortality." 

Agatha  had  no  answer  ready.  He  groped  for  her 
hand  and  took  possession  of  it  with  becoming  mas- 
terfulness. 

"I've  got  something  to  say  to  you,  something  very 
important.  I've  meant  to  say  it  for  an  age,  but  I've 
been  too  much  of  a  coward  to  risk  a  no." 

Agatha  was  obliged  to  remind  herself  that  she  was 
almost  seventy  years  of  age.  Otherwise  she  might 
have  suspected  she  was  listening  to  a  proposal. 

"Before  I  can  explain  my  plan,  I  want  to  ask  you 
something.    Aren't  you  ever  lonely  here  in  winter?" 

The  question  was  less  formidable  than  she  had  an- 
ticipated.   Her  quick  assent  showed  relief. 

"And  aren't  you  going  to  miss  me  a  little  when  I 
go  back  to  the  city  ?" 

"Of  course  I  shall,"  she  said  faintly,  and  instinc- 
tively tried  to  withdraw  her  hand.  He  tightened  his 
hold,  laughing. 

"Please  don't  take  it  away.  It  does  me  good,  and 
I'm  sure  it  can't  do  you  any  harm.  Now  you've 
given  me  just  the  encouragement  I  needed.  I  f  you're 
lonely  here,  and  if  you're  going  to  miss  me,  why 
shouldn't  you  and  I  set  up  housekeeping  together?" 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH        215 

"I — I  don't  understand."  Again  Agatha  steadied 
herself  with  the  recollection  of  her  three-score  years 
and  seven. 

"I'm  afraid  you've  spoiled  me,"  Forbes  continued 
with  sudden  seriousness.  "I've  grown  shamefully 
dependent  on  you.  It  isn't  altogether  or  chiefly  that 
you've  looked  after  my  physical  comfort  so  won- 
derfully, though,  of  course,  that  counts.  But  you've 
been  so  interested  in  all  that  concerns  me,  so  sympa- 
thetic, such  a  good  pal — "  He  broke  off,  apparently 
at  a  loss  for  words.  "You're  as  bracing  as  an  Oc- 
tober breeze,"  he  said.  "God  knows  what  I  should 
have  done  without  you,  this  damnable  summer." 

The  thought  crossed  her  mind  that  this  was  her 
opportunity.  Now  that  they  were  alone,  now  that 
he  had  acknowledged  his  indebtedness,  she  could 
safely  throw  herself  upon  his  mercy.  Her  lips 
parted  for  her  confession,  and  an  overmastering 
cowardly  fear  paralyzed  the  organs  of  speech.  Sup- 
pose he  refused  to  forgive  her.  Then  he  would  go 
away  and  she  would  never  see  him  again.  She  must 
make  herself  still  more  indispensable.  She  must 
foster  that  feeling  of  dependence  before  she  risked 
self-accusation. 

"Of  course  I  must  be  in  town  next  winter,"  Forbes 


216  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

went  on.  "Why  shouldn't  I  take  a  furnished  apart- 
ment and  have  you  as  a  sort  of  mother  confessor? 
We  can  get  some  good  servants  so  you  will  be  re- 
lieved of  all  responsibility  as  far  as  the  establishment 
is  concerned,  and  your  sole  duty  will  be  to  keep  me 
content  with  life.     How  does  that  appeal  to  you?" 

Agatha  heard  herself  faltering  something  about 
Miss  Finch. 

"Oh,  we'll  find  a  place  for  Miss  Finch,"  Forbes 
said  tolerantly.  "I  took  it  for  granted  Miss  Finch 
would  come  along,  just  as  I  assumed  that  your 
shadow  would  accompany  you." 

"It  may  be  that  Zaida  will  be  married  by  fall," 
exclaimed  Agatha,  seizing  the  opportunity  to  post- 
pone the  necessity  of  answering  him.  She  would 
not  have  risked  the  story  on  Warren,  but  she  trusted 
Forbes  to  understand  that  even  while  her  voice 
broke  with  uncontrollable  laughter,  she  was  not 
holding  her  old  friend  up  to  ridicule.  As  she  de- 
scribed Miss  Finch's  singular  quandary,  Forl^es 
joined  in  her  laughter,  more  spontaneously  than  for 
many  weeks,  though  he  made  no  effort  to  conceal  his 
amazement. 

"Miss  Finch !  I  begin  to  feel  that  I  haven't  done 
justice  to  the  lady's  charms.    She  has  impressed  me 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH        217 

as  colorless,  not  faded,  you  know,  but  colorless  from 
the  start." 

"It's  well  we  don't  all  see  alike,"  Agatha  said  de- 
murely, though  a  little  startled  by  his  perspicacity. 

His  next  remark  took  her  by  surprise.  "It's  a 
thousand  pities  you  never  married." 

Her  impertinent  retort  that  there  was  still  time 
for  that,  was  checked  before  it  left  her  lips,  and  re- 
placed by  the  less  hazardous  rejoinder,  "In  that  case, 
probably  I  shouldn't  be  sitting  here  with  you." 

"True.  But  my  good  luck  has  meant  loss  to  so 
many.  You  would  have  been  an  incomparable 
mother.  It's  a  shame  you  didn't  have  a  dozen  chil- 
dren. Do  you  know  I've  never  in  my  life  felt  such 
a  sense  of  being  mothered  as  I  have  since  I  came  to 
Oak  Knoll.  My  own  mother  was  an  invalid  when  I 
first  remember  her." 

A  little  confused,  but  gallantly  striving  to  live  up 
to  her  maternal  role,  Agatha  patted  his  arm  with 
her  disengaged  hand.  He  showed  his  filial  apprecia- 
tion by  kissing  the  other. 

"It  wasn't  my  father's  fault,  anyway,  that  you 
didn't  fulfil  your  destiny.  He  took  me  into  his  con- 
fidence the  last  few  months  of  his  life,  not  in  any 
formal  way,  you  understand,  just  a  word  dropped 


218  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

here  and  there.  He  was  the  tenderest  of  husbands 
to  my  mother,  but  at  the  last  of  his  hfe,  his  thoughts 
"were  all  with  his  first  love."  He  turned  toward  her 
with  a  gesture  plainly  interrogative.  "He  must  have 
been  rather  an  attractive  young  fellow." 

"He  was,"    Agatha  spoke  with  conviction. 

"And  still  you  turned  him  down.  I  suppose  it 
would  be  presumptuous  to  hazard  a  guess  that  there 
was  another  man." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  would  be  rather  presumptuous," 
Agatha  said  breathlessly.  "Anyway,  it's  foolish, 
dragging  up  old  love-affairs.  'Let  the  dead  past 
bury  its  dead,'  you  know,  though  you  modern  young 
folks  don't  hold  Longfellow  in  such  esteem  as  my 
generation  did." 

"I  was  only  thinking  that  if  there  was  a  man  who 
might  have  married  you  and  didn't,  he's  probably 
putting  in  his  time  in  the  next  world  cursing  his  luck. 
But  you're  not  going  to  be  as  hard  on  the  son  as 
you  were  on  the  father,  are  you?" 

"I — I — do  you  mean — " 

"You're  not  going  to  blast  all  my  hopes  by  saying 
no.  How  am  I  going  to  get  along  without  you;  tell 
me  that?" 

"You  must  give  me  a  little  time  to  think,"  Agatha 
protested  faintly.     She  had  vowed  that  morning  to 


UNDERNEATH  THE  BOUGH        219 

iavoid  all  references  in  the  future  to  her  advanced 
age,  but  the  habit  of  acting  a  part  was  too  strong 
to  be  overcome  by  a  single  resolution.  She  heard 
herself  continuing  mechanically,  "Old  people  don't 
like  to  be  hurried  into  important  decisions.  Leaving 
the  home  of  so  many  years  and  going  away  with  a 
young  man  may  seem  a  very  little  thing  to  you,  but 
to  me  it's  a  real  adventure." 

"Take  all  the  time  you  want  for  reflection,"  he 
conceded  generously.  "Only  understand,  you  must 
end  by  saying  yes !" 

"You  might  change  your  mind  and  not  want  me," 
Agatha  said.  The  playfulness  oozed  out  of  her  tone 
as  she  voiced  her  haunting  dread.  "You  might  find 
out  something  about  me,  some  trait  you  had  never 
suspected.  I  might  be  any  number  of  awful  things 
> — deceitful,  for  instance."  Again  the  impulse  to 
confession  took  her  by  the  throat.  Again  she  fought 
it  off  almost  with  terror.  It  was  too  soon.  She 
was  not  ready.  She  did  not  know  what  to  say,  and 
moreover  the  moment  was  too  sweet  to  spoil. 

Forbes  laughed  tolerantly.  "Oh,  I'll  take  the  risk. 
Shall  we  shake  hands  on  the  bargain  ?" 

He  Vv'as  amused  by  the  fervor  of  her  refusal,  but 
his  instinct  warned  him  he  was  carrying  his  teasing 
too  far.    He  had  a  strong  conviction  that  she  would 


220  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

end  by  accepting  his  proposition,  but  nothing  would 
be  gained  by  hurrying  her  to  a  decision.  Though  in 
most  things  she  was  strangely  younger  than  her 
years,  her  age  manifested  itself  in  her  reluctance  to 
change  the  established  order.  He  congratulated 
himself  on  broaching  the  subject  early  enough  to 
give  her  time  for  accustoming  herself  to  the  idea. 

A  comfortable  silence  fell  between  them.  Forbes 
stretched  himself  on  the  pine  needles,  and  presently 
dropped  off  to  sleep.  He  had  held  to  her  hand 
throughout  their  talk  with  seeming  playfulness, 
though  perhaps  underneath  was  the  instinct  of  the 
blind  man  to  establish  a  link  between  himself  and 
his  kind,  to  touch  what  he  can  not  see.  In  his  sleep 
he  moved  nearer  the  imprisoned  hand,  and  lay  with 
his  cheek  touching  it.  And  though  her  arm  grew 
very  tired  from  staying  in  one  position  so  long,  pass- 
ing through  the  various  stages  from  prickles  to  ex- 
cruciating pain,  and  finally  to  a  numbness  which 
made  her  wonder  if  she  could  ever  use  it  again, 
Agatha  did  not  move.  Indeed  as  she  sat  listening  to 
his  quiet  breathing,  feeling  through  the  torture  of 
her  cramped  muscles  the  touch  of  his  cheek  against 
her  hand,  her  only  quarrel  with  the  hour  was  that  it 
could  not  last. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

MISS   FINCH    FOLLOWS   A   CLASSIC   EXAMPLE 

ZAIDA  FINCH  was  not  ill-pleased  at  the  pros- 
pect of  a  day  to  herself.  Agatha's  personal- 
ity was  distracting.  It  was  next  to  impossible  to 
concentrate  your  thoughts  on  your  own  affairs,  how- 
ever urgent  the  need,  when  Agatha  was  darting 
about  like  a  bright-plumaged  bird,  saying  things 
that  interested  you,  even  though  you  frequently 
found  them  shocking.  "She's  a  dear  girl,"  Miss 
Finch  reflected,  "but  upsetting;  and  I  need  quiet." 
She  seated  herself  upon  the  broad  porch,  with  the 
inevitable  mending,  and  wearily  began  weighing  the 
advantages  of  one  suitor  against  those  of  his  rival. 
There  was  the  matter  of  health  to  be  considered,  an 
important  factor  in  reaching  a  decision.  Zaida  re- 
membered a  spinster  of  forty  married  to  a  man  con- 
siderably her  senior,  who  had  been  a  bride  three 
weeks  to  a  day  when  the  bridegroom  was  smitten 
with  paralysis. 

221 


222  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"And  poor  Linda  was  nothing  but  a  sick-nurse 
from  that  on,"  mused  Miss  Finch.  "He  must  have 
lasted  a  good  twenty  years.  I  never  was  much  of  a 
hand  in  the  sick-room.  Nursing  would  wear  me  out 
in  no  time." 

But  though  caution  sharpened  her  natural  acute- 
ness,  Miss  Finch  was  unable  to  award  to  either  of 
the  gentlemen  who  had  honored  her,  any  advantage 
over  the  other  in  the  matter  of  health.  She  could 
not  remember  that  Deacon  Wiggins  had  ever  been 
ill,  though  sickness  and  death  had  been  familiar 
guests  in  his  household.  James  Doolittle  frequently 
walked  with  a  limp  due  to  rheumatic  trouble,  but 
James  came  from  long-lived  stock,  and  gave  a  re- 
assuring impression  of  toughness.  As  far  as  hu- 
man judgment  could  play  the  prophet,  she  would  not 
be  called  on  to  act  as  nurse  to  either  aspirant,  at 
least  for  a  number  of  years. 

Miss  Finch's  mending  suffered.  She  found  it  dif- 
ficult to  employ  her  brain  and  her  fingers  in  syn- 
chronous activities,  and  as  selecting  a  husband  nat- 
urally took  precedence  over  stopping  the  holes  in 
Howard's  socks,  she  sat  much  of  the  morning  with 
her  hands  lying  idle  In  her  lap,  her  countenance  ex- 
pressing a  concentration  almost  tragic.    By  noon  she 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  223 

was  fairly  limp  from  the  strain  and  sHe  went  to  the 
kitchen  to  ask  Phemie  for  a  cup  of  tea. 

The  sound  of  wheels  recalled  her  to  the  porch 
before  her  modest  luncheon  was  disposed  of.  Her 
first  apprehension  that  either  the  deacon  or  James 
Doolittle  was  coming  to  insist  on  an  immediate  an- 
swer, vanished  as  she  caught  sight  of  two  unmis- 
takably feminine  figures  on  the  rear  seat  of  the 
rickety  vehicle  approaching.  But  her  feeling  of  re- 
assurance was  of  brief  duration.  Almost  immedi- 
ately the  conviction  seized  her  that  the  women  were 
strangers. 

Miss  Finch  stood  quaking.  Her  constitutional 
shyness  had  been  so  cultivated  by  a  lifetime  of  keep- 
ing herself  in  the  background  that  the  prospect  of 
an  interview  with  the  unknown  women  presented 
Itself  as  an  ordeal.  It  was  probable,  Miss  Finch 
reflected,  that  they  were  city  people  looking  for 
board.  In  that  case  it  was  only  necessary  to  tell 
them  that  they  did  not  wish  any  additional  boarders, 
and  they  would  have  no  alternative  but  to  go  away. 
Nevertheless  she  wished  with  illogical  heartiness 
that  Agatha  were  at  home  to  assume  the  responsibil- 
ity of  the  interview. 

The  creaking  carryall  came  to  a  halt  in  front  of 


224  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

the  house.  Miss  Finch  saw  that  of  the  two  passen- 
gers, one  was  young  and  one  elderly,  while  both  were 
smartly  dressed  and  formidable.  It  was  the  older 
woman  who  addressed  her,  eying  her  disapprovingly 
through  her  lorgnette,  and  speaking  in  a  tone  of  in- 
credulity that  somehow  was  offensive. 

"My  good  woman,  kindly  tell  me  whether  this  is 
Oak  Knoll." 

"Yes,  it  is,"  said  Miss  Finch,  reduced  by  the 
lorgnette  to  abject  helplessness. 

The  driver  growled  something  from  the  front  seat. 
Miss  Finch  understood  him  to  say,  "Next  time 
maybe  you'll  believe  me." 

"And  is  Mr.  Forbes,  Mr.  Burton  Forbes,  spend- 
ing the  summer  here?"  The  incredulity  was  as 
marked  as  before  and  as  disagreeable. 

"Yes'm,"  replied  Miss  Finch  faintly.    "He  is." 

The  driver  growled  again.  The  substance  of  his 
remark,  as  far  as  Miss  Finch  could  grasp  it  in  her 
confusion,  seemed  to  be,  "What  did  I  tell  you?" 

But  it  mattered  little  to  Miss  Finch  what  the 
driver  had  to  say.  A  deplorable  certainty  absorbed 
her.  The  women  were  preparing  to  alight.  There 
was  a  trifling  delay,  owing  to  the  fact  they  seemed 
to  expect  the  driver  to  assist  them,  while  he  assured 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  225 

them  that  he  did  not  dare  to  leave  his  horses.  As 
the  dejected  steeds  stood  with  hanging  heads,  appar- 
ently resigned  to  the  prospect  of  dying  in  their 
traces,  the  indignation  of  the  two  passengers  was 
amply  justified. 

They  were  out  at  last,  and  while  the  elderly  lady 
haughtily  paid  the  driver,  Miss  Finch's  distended 
eyes  were  taking  a  rapid  inventory  of  the  younger. 
She  was  extremely  handsome,  Miss  Finch  saw,  tall 
and  slender  and  tremendously  striking  in  her  black 
and  white  costume.  She  stood  looking  about  her 
with  an  evident  disdain  which  the  little  spinster 
might  have  resented,  had  she  not  been  chilled  by  an 
indefinable  fear. 

When  the  beautiful  stranger  spoke,  her  remark 
was  a  complete  surprise.     "Miss  Kent,  I  suppose." 

Zaida  Finch  became  aware  of  an  inexplicable  hos- 
tility in  the  other's  manner,  of  an  arrogance  that 
bordered  on  insolence.  She  found  she  was  being 
scrutinized  contemptuously.  The  little  drab  non- 
entity felt  in  her  veins  an  unprecedented  stirring  of 
resentment. 

"No,  I'm  not,"  she  said  with  a  flatness  that  seemed 
deliberately  contradictive.     "I'm  Miss  Finch." 

"Be  so  kind  as  to  call  Miss  Kent." 


226  AGATHA'S  AUNt 

"She's  out,  I'm  sorry  to  say,"  replied  Miss  Finch, 
and  her  regret  was  heartfelt.  If  only  Agatha  were 
on  hand  to  give  back  this  presumptuous  girl  stare  for 
stare,  to  inquire  her  errand,  in  the  chilling  tone  of 
which  Agatha  knew  the  secret,  and  finally  to  send 
her  about  her  business. 

"Call  Mr.  Forbes,  then." 

"Mr.  Forbes  is  out,  too,"  Miss  Finch  explained, 
and  a  little  chill  ran  down  her  spine.  She  had  for- 
gotten how  imperative  it  was  that  Agatha  should  not 
encounter  any  of  Forbes'  friends.  If  their  unwel- 
come guests  lingered,  it  would  be  necessary  for 
Agatha  to  become  Flephzibah  again  with  all  the  in- 
conveniences attendant  on  that  incarnation.  "I've 
got  to  get  rid  of  'em  somehow,"  thought  Miss  Kent 
distractedly. 

But  apparently  for  the  younger  of  the  two  stran- 
gers, Miss  Finch  had  ceased  to  exist.  She  turned 
to  her  companion  impatiently.  "It's  dreadfully 
boring,  Aunt  Estelle,  but  Burton  is  out  at  present. 
We'll  have  to  sit  on  the  porch  and  wait.  Fortu- 
nately it  is  shady." 

"Yes,  it  seems  to  be  slmdy,"  admitted  Aunt  Es- 
telle, with  an  emphasis  indicating  that  as  far  as  the 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  227 

porch  was  concerned,  she  could  make  no  further 
concessions.  She  cHmbed  the  steps  looking  about 
her  with  multiplying  evidences  of  disquiet.  "Ask 
her  when  Burton  will  be  back,"  she  enjoined,  exactly 
as  if  Miss  Finch  had  spoken  a  foreign  tongue,  and 
could  be  addressed  only  through  an  interpreter. 

Miss  Finch  did  not  wait  to  have  the  inquiry  trans- 
lated. "I  don't  know  when  he'll  be  back,"  she  said 
quickly.    "Probably  he'll  be  gone  all  day." 

"He'll  return  for  luncheon,  I  suppose,"  said  Aunt 
Estelle,  grudgingly  acknowledging  Miss  Finch's  abil- 
ity to  speak  English,  but  apparently  liking  her  no 
better  on  that  account. 

"No,  he  won't,"  declared  Miss  Finch,  with  unac- 
customed positiveness.    "They  took  sandwiches." 

The  two  women  exchanged  glances.  "Who  is 
with  Mr.  Forbes?"  asked  the  younger.  Her  manner 
implied  her  right  to  know. 

"Ag — well,  Miss  Kent  went  with  him."  And  to 
herself  Miss  Finch  added  wildly,  "I  can't  have  a  lie 
on  my  conscience,  even  for  Agatha." 

**Who  else  was  in  the  party,  please?"  The  young 
woman  in  black  and  white  had  become  a  judge,  and 
Miss  Finch,  the  prisoner  at  the  bar. 


228  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"There  wasn't  anybody  else,"  gasped  Miss  Finch, 
with  every  indication  of  uttering  a  deHberate  and 
premeditated  falsehood. 

"Where  were  they  going?" 

"I  don't  know  exactly.  They  were  going  for  a 
picnic  somewhere,  but  I  didn't  hear  'em  say  where. 
I  don't  know  as  they  knew  themselves." 

The  judicial  sternness  became  more  marked  as 
the  prisoner's  embarrassment  increased.  "You  mean 
that  Mr.  Forbes  and  Miss  Kent  have  gone  off  for  the 
day  with — sandwiches?"  Something  in  her  in- 
flection made  the  mention  of  sandwiches  the  crown- 
ing insult  to  her  intelligence. 

"Yes,"  faltered  Miss  Finch  guiltily.  "They  often 
take  long  walks,  and  carry  a  picnic  lunch." 

The  older  lady  spoke  with  asperity.  "It's  a  pre- 
posterous situation.  I'm  sorry  to  remind  you,  Julia, 
that  I  said  at  the  start  it  would  be  better  to  tele- 
graph." 

Miss  Finch  started  violently.  She  recalled 
Agatha's  confidential  assurance  that  Forbes  was  in 
love  with  a  despicable  young  woman  named  Julia, 
but  that  the  aforesaid  Julia  was  to  marry  another 
man.  Yet  here  she  was,  undeniably  handsome,  ter- 
rifyingly  elegant,  and  worst  of  all,  with  no  apparent 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  229 

doubt  as  to  her  right  to  be  demanding  the  immediate 
producing  of  Mr.  Forbes. 

The  two  women  had  seated  themselves,  Aunt 
Estelle  ostentatiously  dusting  the  rocker  she  trusted 
with  her  ample  person.  Miss  Finch  proffered  a  be- 
lated and  reluctant  hospitality. 

"If  you're  thinking  of  sitting  here  long,  I'll  see 
about  getting  you  something  to  eat." 

Julia  brushed  the  offer  aside  without  thanks.  "We 
shall  wait  for  Mr.  Forbes." 

"It  is  really  absurd,  you  know,"  Aunt  Estelle  con- 
tributed, "for  us  to  sit  waiting  indefinitely.  Burton 
must  be  somewhere  about.  A  blind  man  and  an  old 
woman  can  not  possibly  walk  very  far.  Why  are 
they  not  sent  for?" 

As  her  inquiry  was  addressed  to  Julia,  Julia  passed 
it  on  to  Miss  Finch,  her  extremely  frigid  tone  indi- 
cating that  Miss  Finch  should  have  thought  of  that 
herself. 

"There's  nobody  to  send  except  the  hired  girl," 
Miss  Finch  explained  despairingly.  "And  she  never 
was  known  to  find  anything,  even  if  it  was  right 
under  her  nose.    If  only  Howard — " 

Miss  Finch  checked  herself  abruptly.  A  thought 
had  flashed  across  her  mind  so  dazzling  in  its  bril- 


230  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

liancy  she  could  hardly  believe  herself  capable  of 
originating  it.  Indeed,  the  probability  is  that  she 
had  not  done  so,  but  that  some  extravagant  fancy 
of  Agatha's,  falling  like  seed  into  her  subconscious- 
ness, had  lain  there  dormant  till  the  emergency 
brought  it  to  swift  germination.  Zaida  Finch  had 
never  heard  of  Victor  Hugo's  saintly  nun,  crowning 
a  lifetime  of  sanctity  by  a  devout  and  holy  He,  but 
unconsciously  she  was  inspired  to  emulate  her  ex- 
ample. 

With  Miss  Finch  veracity  was  almost  a  mania. 
She  was  one  of  the  tiresome  people  who  are  contin- 
ually suspecting  themselves  of  exaggeration  or  of 
misrepresentation  of  something  absolutely  without 
importance,  and  then  bore  their  associates  by  insist- 
ing on  their  attention  while  they  painstakingly  cor- 
rect their  statements.  Yet  now  she  forgot  her 
habitual  dread  of  falsehood.  If  a  lie  were  neces- 
sary to  save  Agatha,  lie  she  must. 

She  resumed  her  interrupted  sentence,  pale  but 
resolute.  *Tf  only  Howard  was  well,  he  could  look 
for  *em.  He  could  find  'em  if  anybody  could.  But 
it'll  be  a  good  while  before  he  does  much  running 
around,  I  guess." 

The  two  visitors  regarded  her  stonily.     In  her 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  231 

simplicity  she  had  assumed  their  cooperation  to  the 
extent  of  a  question  or  two.  They  would  surely  ask 
her  who  Howard  was,  or  why  he  was  incapacitated. 
But  apparently  these  matters  did  not  interest  them 
in  the  slightest  degree.  It  was  necessary  for  Miss 
Finch  to  continue  her  career  of  mendacity  unaided 
by  so  much  as  the  lifting  of  an  interrogative  eye- 
brow. 

Miss  Finch  rose  to  the  occasion.  "He's  sick,  you 
know,"  she  confided  to  the  two  pairs  of  indifferent 
ears.  "High  fever,  and  considerable  of  a  rash — if 
you'd  call  it  a  rash." 

Aunt  Estelle  showed  a  slight  uneasiness.  "You've 
consulted  a  physician,  I  suppose." 

"We're  trying  a  kind  of  mental  cure  first,"  replied 
Miss  Finch  as  glibly  as  if  she  had  practised  perjury 
from  her  childhood.  "And  then  if  that  don't  work, 
Ag — Miss  Kent  is  going  to  call  in  the  doctor.  But 
she  don't  like  to  do  it  till  she  has  to,  for  it  would  be 
awful  inconvenient  to  be  quarantined." 

"Quarantined,"  exclaimed  Aunt  Estelle  with  fresh 
evidences  of  perturbation.  "Have  you  any  reason 
to  think  that  it  may  be  contagious  ?" 

"Most  of  these  rashy  diseases  are,"  Miss  Finch 
replied.     And  though  there  was  no  malice  in  her 


232  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

composition,  she  was  conscious  of  relishing  Aunt 
Estelle's  air  of  agitation.  *T'm  hoping  it's  nothing 
worse  than  scarlet  fever,  though  there's  been  a  good 
many  cases  of  smallpox  around  here  lately.  And  I 
don't  know  that  Howard's  ever  been  vaccinated." 

Aunt  Estelle  rose  from  her  chair  with  a  little  cry. 
In  her  palpitating  pallor  she  reminded  Miss  Finch 
irresistibly  of  blanc-mange. 

"Smallpox,  Julia,"  she  exclaimed.  "Do  you  hear 
what  the  woman  says — smallpox !  Even  if  we  escape 
with  our  lives,  one's  complexion — oh,  my  God !  Why 
did  I  ever  listen  to  this  mad  idea  of  yours!" 

Julia's  composure  was  in  refreshing  contrast  to 
her  aunt's  excitement.  She  rose,  it  is  true,  but  only 
to  advance  to  the  older  woman's  side  and  whisper 
in  her  ear.  And  having  whispered,  she  calmly  re- 
sumed her  seat,  and  looked  away  toward  the  hills, 
apparently  intensely  interested  in  the  scenery. 

Aunt  Estelle  stood  irresolute.  "Do  you  really 
think  so?" 

"I'm  absolutely  sure  of  it,"  said  Julia. 

"I  think  I  noticed  a  little  wildness  in  the  eye  my- 
self," Aunt  Estelle  conceded,  with  a  return  of  her 
earlier  conviction  of  Miss  Finch's  inability  to  under- 
stand English. 


A  CLASSIC  EXAMPLE  233 

"Unmistakable,"  opined  Julia. 

Miss  Finch  looked  blankly  from  one  to  the  other 
and  hope  was  at  low  ebb.  They  were  going  to  stay. 
She  had  thrilled  with  childlike  pride  at  the  discovery 
of  her  own  inventiveness,  culpable  though  it  might 
be.  Complacency  had  whispered  that  Agatha  her- 
self could  not  have  done  better.  And  now  she  real- 
ized that  her  effort  had  failed.  She  had  sacrificed 
her  conscience  to  friendship,  and  the  sacrifice  had 
been  in  vain.  Though  not  so  quick-witted  as  many 
another,  she  had  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  con- 
clusion these  strangers  had  reached.  To  herself  she 
said,  "They  think  I'm  crazy." 

Miss  Finch  was  not  at  the  end  of  her  resources. 
Her  lapse  from  the  path  of  rectitude  had  proved 
strangely  stimulating  to  the  imagination.  She 
meant  to  get  rid  of  these  women  before  Agatha  re- 
turned. Agatha  would  be  equal  to  the  emergency 
provided  she  were  not  taken  by  surprise.  If  Julia 
and  her  aunt  were  not  afraid  of  smallpox,  it  was 
possible  that  they  might  be  afraid  of  a  crazy  woman 
who  showed  signs  of  becoming  violent. 

"G-r-r-r-r — "  said  Miss  Finch  menacingly.  Aunt 
Estelle  jumped  and  took  another  chair.  For  the 
first  time  in  her  life,  Miss  Finch  felt  herself  at  no 


234  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

disadvantage  because  of  her  insignificant  propor- 
tions.   "G-r-r-r-r-r — "  she  said  again. 

"Julia,"  exclaimed  Aunt  Estelle  nervously,  "do 
you  really  think  it's  safe — " 

The  intrepidity  of  the  modem  young  woman 
passes  comprehension.  "Harmless,  I  imagine," 
Julia  said  with  nonchalance.  "Otherwise  Burton 
would  hardly  have  remained." 

"Why  he  should  have  remained  in  this  place  under 
any  circumstances,"  declared  Aunt  Estelle,  "passes 
my  comprehension." 

"There  must  be  some  reason  we  know  nothing 
about.  Burton  jvill  explain."  Something  in  Julia's 
tone  impHed  that  Forbes  would  not  find  explana' 
tions  altogether  easy.  She  added  with  evident  re- 
lief, "Here  he  comes  now." 

"Thank  heaven !"  cried  Aunt  Estelle  piously. 

Miss  Finch  looked  wildly  in  the  direction  of 
Julia's  steadfast  gaze.  All  was  over.  Arm  in  arm 
across  the  grass,  so  absorbed  in  each  other  that  the 
girl  was  as  Wind  as  the  man  to  the  audience  on  the 
porch,  came  Agatha  and  Forbes. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   DAY   OF   JUDGMENT 

FORBES  woke  refreshed  from  his  sylvan  nap, 
and  sat  for  a  little  discoursing  on  the  invig- 
orating effect  of  contact  with  mother  earth,  while 
Agatha,  by  drastic  massage,  restored  the  circulation 
to  her  temporarily  paralyzed  arm.  The  sun  had 
dipped  but  little  toward  the  western  horizon  when 
they  turned  their  faces  homeward,  and  they  walked 
slowly.  Agatha  exulted  in  heat.  A  temperature 
of  ninety  stimulated  her  both  physically  and  men- 
tally. But  Forbes  found  the  warmth  of  the  day  re- 
laxing, and  she  set  the  pace  with  that  fact  in  mind. 
Toward  the  last  of  their  long  leisurely  walk, 
Forbes  brought  up  the  subject  he  had  introduced 
earlier  in  the  day.  Though  he  made  no  effort  to 
hurry  her  to  a  decision,  he  sketched  entertainingly 
some  of  the  diversions  she  might  anticipate,  if  she 
accepted  his  invitation  for  the  winter.  The  program 
was  planned  with  due  regard  for  the  infirmities  of 
age,  but  Agatha  listened  raptly. 

235 


236  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

They  were  but  a  few  rods  from  their  destination, 
Forbes  talking  earnestly,  and  Agatha  hanging  on 
his  words,  when  some  mysterious  sixth  sense  warned 
her  of  danger.  She  looked  ahead  and  instantly 
halted.  Forbes  felt  her  figure  stiffen  against  his 
arm,  and  instinct  told  him  she  was  frightened. 
"What  is  the  matter?"  he  cried,  sickening  with  a 
new  realization  of  his  helplessness. 

Agatha  did  not  answer,  but  as  she  stared  ahead 
she  understood  that  doomsday  had  arrived  un- 
heralded. A  young  woman  was  tripping  toward 
them,  a  handsome  young  woman,  who  even  without 
beauty  would  have  attracted  all  eyes  by  the  distinc- 
tion of  her  dress  and  bearing.  It  could  be  no  other 
than  Julia.  The  ample  lady  in  the  background,  fol- 
lowing with  a  haste  that  empurpled  her  complexion, 
that  she  might  not  be  left  tete-a-tete  with  a  maniac, 
failed  to  attract  Agatha's  attention.  Julia's  grace- 
ful figure  dominated  the  landscape. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  Forbes  again  demanded. 
He  laid  his  hand  reassuringly  over  the  fingers  trem- 
bling upon  his  arm.  And  at  that  moment  a  voice 
subtly  reproachful,  suggestively  tender,  spoke  his 
name.    "Burton !" 

"Julia!"  Forbes  shouted.     His  dear  old  friend, 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  237 

Miss  Kent,  and  her  mysterious  perturbation,  were 
instantly  forgotten.  He  started  forward,  remem- 
bered that  he  was  blind,  stood  irresolute,  his  hands 
outstretched.  "Julia!"  he  cried  again,  this  time  with 
entreaty  as  well  as  rapture. 

Agatha  was  ready  to  believe  that  then  and  there 
she  had  amply  atoned  for  her  sins,  past  and  present. 
Even  the  certainty  that  the  hour  of  her  humiliation 
was  at  hand  could  not  hurt  worse  than  the  joy  ring- 
ing through  his  voice  as  he  spoke  another  woman's 
name.  She  wondered  dully  at  her  own  folly.  She 
had  been  warned  and  had  not  heeded.  She  had 
known  all  the  time  of  hi3  love  for  Julia,  and  yet  had 
foolishly  assumed  that  since  Julia's  selfish  decision 
had  put  her  out  of  his  reach,  he  would  turn  to  her 
for  consolation.  Her  pride  had  not  rebelled  over 
taking  what  Julia  had  thrown  away.  Indeed  she 
had  thought  very  little  about  herself.  Her  one  de- 
sire was  to  be  light  to  his  blind  eyes,  balm  to  his 
wounded  heart.  But  her  castle  of  dreams  was  in 
ruins,  as  soon  as  he  spoke  the  name  she  had  hated 
from  the  first  day  she  had  heard  it  on  his  lips. 

Julia  approached  him  as  swiftly  as  was  consistent 
with  grace,  a  rather  insolent  triumph  in  the  glance 
she  shot  over  his  shoulder  toward  the  pale  girl  stand- 


238  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ing  in  the  background,  "Yes,  Burton,"  she  said 
gently,  "it  is  Julia,"  and  extended  both  hands. 

He  caught  them  ardently  and  held  them  fast,  his 
eager  face  questioning  her  dumbly,  though  he  only 
said,  "What  a  wonderful  surprise!  How  good  of 
you,  how  very  good  of  you!" 

"My  aunt,  Mrs.  Knox,  is  with  me,  Burton,"  con- 
tinued Julia,  the  pensiveness  of  her  tone  flatly  con- 
tradicted by  her  air  of  elation.  "I  think  you  have 
met  Mr.  Forbes,  Aunt  Estelle." 

Aunt  Estelle,  still  panting,  brought  herself  into 
hand-shaking  distance  and  this  formality  helped  to 
recall  Forbes  to  the  realization  that  there  were  other 
people  in  the  world  besides  Julia  and  himself.  He 
turned  toward  Agatha. 

"This  is  a  pleasure  I  have  been  promising  my- 
self," he  said.  "Julia,  I  want  you  to  know  my  dear 
friend.  Miss  Kent.  Miss  Kent,  let  me  present  Mrs. 
Knox  and  Miss  Studley." 

The  blankness  of  the  silence  that  ensued  was  as 
definite  as  a  blow.  Forbes  stood  awaiting  the  con- 
ventional formula,  but  his  quick  ear  could  detect 
only  the  sound  of  hurried  breathing.  Again  he 
turned  toward  Agatha,  but  for  the  first  time  she 
failed  him. 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  239 

"Miss  Kent  is  still  here,  is  she  not?"  queried 
Forbes.  He  remembered  his  ideas  had  been  chaotic 
after  discovering  Julia's  presence.  His  late  com- 
panion might  easily  have  withdrawn  without  attract- 
ing his  attention. 

For  so  simple  a  question,  the  effect  was  startling. 
"Burton,"  Julia  cried,  her  voice  sharp  to  the  point 
of  shrillness,  "what  are  you  talking  about?" 

Aunt  Estelle  caught  her  sleeve.  "Can't  you  un- 
derstand, Julia?"  she  hissed.  "This  place  is  a  pri- 
vate asylum.  That  crazy  old  creature  on  the  porch, 
and  now  him.  It's  perfectly  plain.  Let  us  go  away 
at  once." 

Forbes  caught  most  of  this  sibilant  outburst.  He 
turned  white  with  anger.  "Miss  Kent  ?"  he  pleaded, 
and  Agatha  pulled  herself  together.  Her  voice  was 
steady  if  slightly  unnatural,  as  she  answered,  "Yes, 
I  am  here." 

Forbes  tried  to  laugh.  The  consciousness  of  be- 
ing enveloped  in  baffling  mystery  made  his  blindness 
doubly  intolerable.  There  was  a  bewilderment  in 
his  voice  that  wrung  Agatha's  heart. 

"Thi3  is  what  I  have  been  hoping  for  all  summer. 
You  know  how  often  I've  wished  you  and  Miss 
Studley  might  know  each  other." 


240  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Burton,"  Julia  screamed,  "who  and  what  is  this 
person?" 

The  contempt  in  her  tone,  even  more  than  her 
disdainful  phrasing,  brought  the  blood  racing  to  his 
forehead.  "Julia!"  He  seemed  to  defy  her  to  go 
on.  "If  you  have  read  my  letters  at  all,"  he  said  in 
a  vibrant  voice,  "you  know  both  who  Miss  Kent  is 
and  how  much  I  am  in  her  debt." 

"Miss  Kent!    Your  father's  friend!" 

"And  mine  as  well,  Julia."  There  was  no  ecstatic 
tenderness  now  in  his  use  of  her  name,  but  indignant 
sternness. 

"Burton,  either  you  are  insane  or  the  woman  is 
an  impostor.  She  is  not  old.  She  is  young,  hardly 
more  than  a  girl." 

Forbes  attempted  to  reply,  but  for  a  moment  no 
words  came.  He  put  his  hand  to  his  forehead  with 
a  confused  gesture.  "I  have  been  off  in  the  woods 
with  Miss  Kent  all  day,"  he  stammered.  "I  sup- 
posed— I  had  not  noticed — "  Again  he  turned  in 
Agatha's  direction.    "Who  are  you,  please?" 

There  was  no  trace  of  emotion  in  her  composed 
answer.    "I  am  Agatha  Kent." 

"Do  you  dare  to  say,"  shrieked  Julia,  "that  you 
jvere  the  friend  of  Mr.  Forbes'  father?" 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  241 

"I  never  saw  Mr.  Forbes'  father." 

Forbes  took  a  step  ahead,  then  halted,  and  stood 
with  his  feet  a  Httle  apart,  like  one  who  balances 
himself  on  the  deck  of  a  heaving  ship  in  a  high  sea. 
**But  where,"  he  stammered,  "where  is  the  other 
Miss  Kent?" 

"There  is  no  other.  My  Great-aunt  Agatha,  for 
whom  I  was  named,  died  twelve  years  ago." 

There  was  a  momentary  palpitating  silence  which 
Julia  was  the  first  to  break. 

"And  you  mean,"  she  arraigned  her,  "that  all  this 
summer  you  have  been  a  deliberate  impostor,  palm- 
ing yourself  off  on  Mr.  Forbes  as  an  old  woman, 
allowing  him  to  think — oh,  it's  too  shameful.  I 
can't  believe  any  girl  would  be  so  base." 

"It  is  quite  true,  nevertheless,"  Agatha  assured 
her  gently.  Her  steady  eyes  met  Julia's,  and  even 
that  intrepid  young  woman  drew  back  a  step.  Her 
momentary  shrinking  was  not  unreasonable  for 
could  concentrated  hate  smite  like  a  lightning  bolt, 
her  life  would  have  been  measured  by  seconds. 

Instinct  taught  Julia  how  to  repay  that  level  look 
by  the  deadliest  hurt.  She  turned  on  Forbes  furi- 
ously. "Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  have  been 
the  victim  of  a  hoax  all  summer,  that  this  girl  has 


242  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

passed  herself  off  on  you  for  an  old  woman?  But, 
no,  it  Isn't  possible.  You've  contrived  this  out- 
rageous story  between  you  to  cover  up  something 
disgraceful.  You  couldn't  have  been  such  a  dupe  as 
you  pretend.     It's  incredible!" 

Forbes'  color  came  and  went  during  this  attack. 
"It  seems  incredible,"  he  owned  when  she  gave  him 
opportunity.  "I  don't  blame  you  for  questioning 
the  truth  of  such  a  story.  I  can  only  remind  you 
that  it  is  easy  to  deceive  a  blind  man." 

Something  in  Agatha's  stony  whiteness  convinced 
Julia  that  she  had  made  no  mistake  in  her  choice  of 
retribution.    She  gave  the  screws  another  turn. 

"You  mean  for  me  to  believe,  Burton,  that  you've 
been  only  the  gullible  victim  of  a  swindle,  that  this 
impostor  has  tricked  you  successfully  all  these 
months  ?" 

There  was  a  rather  long  silence.  "Yes,"  said 
Forbes  tonelessly,  "that  is  what  I  mean." 

Julia's  first  sense  of  being  at  a  disadvantage  had 
passed.     She  was  thoroughly  enjoying  herself. 

"I  begin  to  understand  your  strange  letter,"  she 
said,  addressing  Agatha.  "Your  letter  of  congrat- 
ulation, you  know.  I  suppose  you  are  the  young 
jvoman  to  whom  you  referred,  the  one  with  whom 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  243 

Mr.  Forbes  had  spent  so  much  time,  you  no  doubt 
remember." 

,There  was  such  malicious  satisfaction  in  her  tone 
that  Forbes  turned  as  if  to  interfere.  Then  his  up- 
Hfted  arm  dropped  rather  heavily  to  his  side. 

"You'll  laugh  when  I  tell  you,  Burton,"  exclaimed 
Julia,  setting  him  the  example  by  laughing  herself, 
most  unpleasantly.  "But  she  insinuated  in  this  let- 
ter that  you  might  marry  her.  That  is  at  the  bottom 
of  this  outrageous  plot.  She  actually  thought  she 
could  compromise  you  in  some  dreadful  way  and 
force  you  to  marry  her.  Shocking  as  it  is,  one  can't 
help  being  amused." 

Forbes'  only  answer  was  again  to  lift  his  hand  to 
his  head.  It  was  Agatha  who  spoke.  Unmasked  ad- 
venturess as  she  was,  her  dignity  was  in  rather 
agreeable  contrast  to  Julia's  vindictive  shrillness. 

"It  is  hardly  necessary  to  trouble  Mr.  Forbes  with 
any  further  details,"  she  said,  "since,  thanks  to  you, 
my  plot  against  his  peace  has  been  exposed.  I  sup- 
pose you  will  want  to  take  hini  away  as  soon  as 
possible." 

"Oh,  at  once."  Julia  showed  signs  of  becoming 
hysterical.  "The  very  first  train.  I  feel  as  if  I 
couldn't  breathe  in  this  atmosphere  of  deceit." 


244  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"I'm  afraid  there  is  no  train  before  five  o'clock, 
but  I'll  have  the  carriage  ready  in  plenty  of  time. 
And  now,  if  you  will  excuse  me,  I  shall  see  about 
getting  you  some  luncheon." 

"Luncheon!  Good  heavens,  I  couldn't  eat  a 
mouthful.    It  would  choke  me." 

Mrs.  Knox  seconded  her  niece  admirably.  "It 
would  not  be  safe,  Julia.  A  person  capable  of  all 
this  would  not  hesitate  to  poison  our  food." 

Agatha  accepted  this  tribute  without  comment. 
"Will  you  pack  Mr.  Forbes'  things  yourself?"  she 
said,  addressing  Julia. 

Again  Mrs.  Knox  intervened.  "Julia,  I  forbid 
you  to  go  into  that  house,  with  this  girl,  and  that 
dreadful,  crazy  creature — " 

Forbes  interrupted  with  signs  of  irritation,  "You 
said  that  once  before.  There  is  no  insane  woman 
here." 

"I  am  afraid  you  are  not  a  very  good  judge  of 
what  is  or  is  not  here,  Mr.  Forbes,"  replied  Aunt 
Estelle,  scoring  again.  "We  had  a  most  unpleasant 
encounter  with  a  woman  clearly  insane.  She  posi- 
tively gibbered." 

"Yes,  Burton,"  Julia  cried  with  shrewish  enjoy- 
ment,  "you  have  been  made  a  laughing-stock  all 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  245 

summer,  poor  dear.  You've  kept  writing  about  this 
fine  old  place.  I  wish  you  could  see  it.  It's  simply 
in  the  last  stages  of  dilapidation." 

"It's  ready  to  fall  to  pieces,"  corroborated  Aunt 
Estelle.  "I  didn't  venture  inside,  but  the  glimpses 
of  the  interior  I  got  from  the  window  showed  that 
everything  was  fairly  moth-eaten." 

"Yes,"  Agatha  admitted  quietly.  "We  are  very 
poor,  so  poor  that  a  blind  boarder  seemed  provi- 
dential. Won't  you  sit  on  the  porch  till  the  carriage 
is  ready  ?"  she  added  politely.  "I'm  sure  Mr.  Forbes 
is  tired  after  his  long  walk." 

"Oh,  please,"  protested  Julia,  her  self-control 
shaken  by  the  other's  calm,  "please  drop  this  pretext 
of  being  so  interested  in  Mr.  Forbes'  welfare.  After 
the  fraud  you  have  practised  on  him  all  summer  you 
can  hardly  expect  him  to  believe  anything  you  say." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Agatha.  "I  don't  expect  that  for 
a  moment.  And  now  if  you're  sure  you  won't  eat  a 
little  luncheon,  I'll  bid  you  all  good  afternoon."  She 
went  across  the  grass  to  the  house,  carrying  herself 
with  her  chin  high,  moving  deliberately.  No  one 
could  have  guessed  the  fact  of  which  she  was  so  cer- 
tain, that  during  the  encounter  she  had  ceased  to  be 
a  girl,  that  she  had  leaped  without  any  intervening 


246  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

stages  of  maturity  and  middle  life,  straight  to  old 
age,  that  dreadful  old  age,  beyond  hope  or  joy,  the 
age  that  Is  death  In  life.  Agatha  remembered  won- 
deringly  that  once  the  mere  flicker  of  sunshine 
through  leaves,  the  mere  fragrance  of  a  flower,  had 
a  magic  to  quicken  her  pulses. 

A  little  after  three  the  carryall  appeared.  How- 
ard was  driving,  and  Forbes'  suit-case  and  other  im- 
pedimenta lay  on  the  seat  beside  him.  As  he  helped 
his  passengers  in,  he  explained  that  the  trunk  would 
be  sent  by  express  next  day.  This  announcement 
was  received  in  frigid  silence  whereupon  Howard, 
too,  became  sulkily  silent  and  used  the  whip  on  the 
fat  bays  with  such  effect  that  they  covered  the  five 
miles  between  Oak  Knoll  and  the  village  station  at 
an  unprecedented  rate  of  speed. 

Forbes  thawed  a  little  when  Howard  helped  him 
to  alight,  and  stood  for  a  moment  beside  him. 
"Good-by,  Mr.  Forbes,"  the  boy  said  huskily.  "I'm 
awfully  sorry  you're  going." 

He  put  out  his  hand  and  after  an  instant's  hesi- 
tation Forbes  gripped  it.  He  had  grown  fond  of 
the  boy.  "Oh,  Howard,"  he  said,  his  voice  betray- 
ing his  hurt,  "I  wouldn't  have  believed  It  of  you." 

He  heard  Howard  gulp  and  then  burst  out  sob- 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT  247 

bing.  Fortunately  for  the  boy's  pride,  the  hour  was 
early  and  the  station  platform  lacked  its  customary 
contingent  of  loafers. 

"We  didn't  mean  anything,  Mr.  Forbes,"  Howard 
choked.  "Aggie  wanted  to  take  boarders,  so  she 
could  send  me  to  school,  but  when  they  saw  how  old 
and  shabby  the  house  was,  they  wouldn't  come." 

"Is  she  your  sister?" 

"Kind  of  one.  Her  father  married  my  mother. 
She's  better  than  a  thousand  real  sisters." 

"Burton,"  said  Julia's  voice  beside  them,  "I 
wouldn't  encourage  the  boy  by  listening  to  him. 
Probably  that  young  woman  has  coached  him  in  a 
new  series  of  lies." 

"Aggie  never  tells  lies,"  Howard  challenged  her 
hotly.  "This  was  like  a  charade  or  something. 
Mr.  Forbes  thought  she  was  old  and  so  she  pre- 
tended to  be.  We  had  lots  of  fun  and  it  didn't  do 
anybody  any  harm."  He  appealed  to  Forbes.  "She 
took  good  care  of  you  anyway,  didn't  she,  Mr. 
Forbes?" 

"Really,  Burton,"  expostulated  Julia,  "I  can  not 
allow  this  to  go  on.  These  people  evidently  regard 
you  as  fair  game.  It's  dreadful  that  your  blindness 
should  put  you  so  at  the  mercy  of  the  unscrupulous, 


248  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

but  I  shall  see  that  you  are  not  imposed  on  while  I 
am  with  you.     Send  this  boy  away." 

"He  doesn't  need  to  send  me  away,"  Howard  ex- 
ploded indignantly.  "I'm  going."  He  seized  Forbes' 
hand  again.  "Good-by,  Mr.  Forbes.  Come  and  see 
us  some  time." 

Julia  gasped.  "Did  any  one  ever  imagine  such 
impertinence!"  she  asked  of  high  heaven.  "Such 
people  seem  to  be  without  natural  shame.  I  suppose 
they  are  so  accustomed  to  being  found  out  in  false- 
hood and  fraud  that  they  take  it  as  a  matter  of 
course.  In  the  interest  of  justice  there  should  be 
some  way  of  punishing  them.  Couldn't  they  be 
prosecuted,  Burton,  for  obtaining  money  under  false 
pretenses  ?" 

Forbes  made  no  reply.  Apparently  he  did  not 
share  Julia's  lofty  enthusiasm  for  abstract  justice. 
His  air  of  bewildered  dejection  suggested  a  lost 
child,  rather  than  a  man  rescued  from  a  false  and  in- 
tolerable position  by  the  lady  of  his  heart. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP 


RIDGELEY  WARREN  had  been  to  the  station 
to  bid  a  friend  bon  voyage.  He  presented 
himself  armed  with  a  box  of  chocolates,  the  latest 
novel  and  three  brand-new  witticisms  culled  from  a 
roof-garden  program  the  previous  evening.  The 
pretty  girl  had  accepted  his  offerings  with  marked 
graciousness  and  had  laughed  convulsively  at  each 
of  the  jokes,  thereby  intensifying  Warren's  habitual 
sense  of  being  on  good  terms  with  himself  and  all 
the  world.  His  spirits  unclouded  by  the  pang  of 
parting,  he  strolled  toward  the  exit,  trying  to  decide 
where  to  dine,  when  his  own  name  reached  his  ears 
coupled  with  a  fervent  ejaculation,  "Mr.  Warren! 
Thank  heaven !" 

Warren  spun  on  his  heel  to  encounter  Julia  ad- 
vancing with  extended  hand.  Julia  was  not  one  of 
Warren's  favorites,  but  her  pleasure  at  the  sight  of 
him  was  contagious.  "Gosh!"  he  exclaimed  agree- 
ably, "this  is  luck." 

249 


250  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

It  was  while  shaking  hands  with  Julia  that  War- 
ren became  aware  of  Mrs.  Knox's  imposing  figure 
in  the  background.  And  scarcely  had  he  lifted  his 
hat  in  recognition  of  her  presence,  when  his  eye  fell 
on  Forbes,  a  pale  and  woebegone  object,  committed 
to  the  clumsy  guardianship  of  a  station  porter. 

Warren  turned  on  Julia  blithely.  "Don't  tell  me 
you've  sprung  a  surprise  on  us.  Don't  say  that  I 
should  have  come  with  my  pockets  full  of  rice." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Warren,  be  serious,  please."  There  was 
gentle  reproach  in  Julia's  uplifted  eyes.  "It  seems 
really  providential  meeting  you  here.  Now  you  can 
take  charge  of  Burton  till  he  finds  some  suitable  per- 
son to  look  after  him." 

"What's  become  of  the  nice  little  chap  wHo  has 
been  on  the  job  all  summer?" 

"Oh,  Mr.  Warren !"  Julia's  gesture  indicated  the 
futility  of  attempting  Immediate  explanations.  "It's 
a  long,  a  dreadful  story,  and  it  will  take  time  to 
make  you  understand." 

"Hm !    I'm  not  usually  considered  so  dense." 

"But  this  isn't  like  anything  else.  It's  incredible. 
I  can  hardly  believe  It  myself.  Let's  go  to  some 
quiet  place  where  we  can  have  dinner  and  talk  things 
over." 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  251 

**Yes,  for  heaven's  sake,  let  us  have  dinner," 
snapped  Mrs.  Knox.  An  unusually  early  hour  of 
rising,  together  with  a  midday  fast,  had  reduced  her 
to  an  unwonted  state  of  nervous  irritability.  Forbes, 
too,  seemed  wrapped  in  impenetrable  gloom.  It  was 
not  a  cheerful  party. 

Warren's  curiosity  was  aroused.  He  found  a 
taxi,  bundled  the  dejected  trio  inside  and  gave  the 
driver  directions.  He  was  rather  shocked  to  see 
how  ill  Forbes  looked  on  nearer  view,  but  he  con- 
cealed that  emotion  under  his  usual  cloak  of  levity, 
and  told  humorous  stories  all  the  way  to  their  des- 
tination, covering  the  lack  of  responsiveness  on  the 
part  of  his  audience  by  roars  of  appreciative 
laughter. 

The  staid  hotel  which  Warren  had  selected, 
though  yielding  to  modern  demands  sufficiently  to 
institute  a  roof  dining-room,  discouraged  such  inno- 
vations as  would  be  likely  to  attract  the  light- 
minded,  and  Warren's  party  had  no  difficulty  in  se- 
curing a  table.  Warren  assumed  the  prerogative  of 
host  and  ordered  with  a  lavishness  productive  of  a 
marked  unbending  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Knox.  Julia, 
too,  was  hungry  enough  to  look  forward  to  a  good 
dinner  with  unwonted  anticipation,  and  she  smiled 


252  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

on  him  appreciatively.  Only  Forbes  remained  mood- 
ily aloof. 

It  was  over  the  soup  that  Warren  said  cheerily, 
"Well,  now,  what's  it  all  about?"  He  was  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  something  unusual  must  have 
occurred  to  bring  Julia  and  her  aunt  to  town  in 
August,  as  well  as  to  account  for  Forbes'  strange, 
dispirited  silence. 

Mrs.  Knox  immediately  protested.  "Oh,  Mr. 
Warren,  don't  spoil  a  good  meal  by  bringing  up  that 
abominable  affair." 

"Oh,  yes,  let  it  wait,  please,  Mr.  Warren,"  sighed 
Julia.  "Actually  when  one  realizes  what  wickedness 
there  is  in  the  world — deceit  and  imposture  and 
things  of  that  sort — it  seems  fairly  heartless  to  en- 
joy one's  self." 

"Then  we'll  wait  for  explanations  till  dinner  is 
over,"  Warren  conceded,  with  undiminished  buoy- 
ancy. But  although  he  made  himself  entertaining 
in  his  usual  fashion,  his  mind  was  busy  with  the 
problem  Julia  had  suggested.  Who  was  the  girl  hit- 
ting, with  her  talk  of  deceit  and  imposture?  She 
could  not  refer  to  Miss  Kent,  naturally,  and  How- 
ard was  equally  out  of  the  question.  Could  it  be 
that  Hephzibah's  existence  had  come  to  her  atten- 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  253 

tion  ?  Was  it  possible  that  Forbes  had  been  playing 
a  lone  hand  and  had  thereby  become  involved  in  an 
entanglement  from  which  his  betrothed  had  mag- 
nanimously rescued  him.  The  unrelieved  melan- 
choly of  Forbes'  face  and  manner  rendered  this  ex- 
planation entirely  plausible. 

When  the  coffee  was  brought  on  and  the  men 
lighted  cigarettes,  Warren  felt,  not  unnaturally,  that 
his  hungry  curiosity  had  a  right  to  satisfaction. 
"Well,  I'm  as  ready  to  be  shocked  as  I  ever  shall 
be,"  he  said.  "Let's  hear  what  has  happened.  Don't 
tell  me  that  the  staid  Miss  Kent  was  on  the  point  of 
eloping  with  old  Forbes." 

To  Warren's  surprise,  this  apparently  innocent 
witticism  caused  Forbes  to  flush  darkly.  He  no- 
ticed, too,  that  Julia's  expression  lost  something  of 
its  pensive  sweetness,  but  even  then  he  was  unpre^ 
pared  for  the  acidity  of  the  tone  with  which  she  an- 
swered him. 

"There  is  no  Miss  Kent." 

"Eh?"  Warren  looked  rather  stupid. 

"Strictly  speaking,"  admitted  Julia,  "there  is  a 
person  who  calls  herself  by  that  name.  But  the  nice 
old  lady  who  was  Burton's  father's  friend  has  been 
de^d  9.  dozen  years," 


254  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Warren  knocked  the  ashes  from  his  cigarette 
with  painstaking  dehberation.  "Must  be  a  rather 
lively  old  ghost,"  he  commented,  striving  to  live  up 
to  his  principle  of  never  showing  surprise,  "accord- 
ing to  all  Forbes  tells." 

"Oh,  poor  Burton,"  Julia  cried,  with  a  glance  of 
angelic  commiseration  in  the  direction  of  her  grimly 
silent  lover.  "Wouldn't  you  have  thought  that  Bur- 
ton's misfortune  would  have  appealed  to  the  better 
instincts  of  the  most  depraved?  But  instead,  they 
take  advantage  of  his  blindness  to  trick  him  in  the 
most  infamous  fashion.  The  person  who  calls  her- 
self Agatha  Kent — I  suppose  it  really  is  her  name, 
though  any  one  so  absolutely  deceitful  is  as  likely  to 
lie  about  one  thing  as  another — " 

"Well?"  trumpeted  Warren,  his  strained  patience 
showing  itself  in  the  unnecessary  loudness  of  his 
challenge. 

"Do  hush,  Mr.  Warren,  everybody's  looking  at 
us.  This  Kent  woman  isn't  a  nice  motherly  person. 
She  isn't  old  at  all,  not  a  bit  older  than  I  am." 

Warren  sucked  at  his  cigarette  for  a  moment  and 
blew  the  smoke  through  his  nose.  He  needed  a  little 
time  in  order  to  preserve  the  imperturbaljle  de- 
meanor on  which  he  prided  himself.    He  looked  at 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  255 

Julia  to  be  sure  she  was  in  earnest,  looked  at  Forbes 
to  see  if  he  were  not  going  to  deny  this  incredible 
story,  and  then  expressed  his  feelings  by  a  low 
whistle. 

"Not  a  nice  motherly  person,"  he  repeated  in- 
anely.   "About  as  old  as  you  are." 

"She  may  even  be  a  little  younger,"  Julia  ad- 
mitted generously. 

Warren's  air  of  incredulity  deepened.  He  threw 
the  uncommunicative  Forbes  a  challenging  glance. 

"Do  you  mean  that  Forbes  has  been  spending  all 
his  time  with  her  for  the  past  three  months  and 
never  suspected  that  she  wasn't  an  old  woman?" 

"So  he  claims."  Julia's  inflection  was  decidedly 
tart. 

Forbes  made  one  of  his  rare  contributions  to  the 
conversation.  "I  wouldn't  have  believed  such  a 
thing  possible  myself,  but  blindness  makes  one  an 
easy  victim." 

"Poor  Burton !"  murmured  Julia,  melting  at  once. 
"To  think  that  any  girl  should  have  the  heart  to  take 
such  advantage  of  another's  misfortune." 

"But  I  can't  see  what  she  was  getting  at,"  Warren 
demurred.  "I've  heard  that  occasionally  ladies  rep- 
resent themselves  as  younger  than  they  really  are. 


256  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

and  the  reason  for  that  seems  plain  enough.  But 
why  the  devil  should  a  young  girl  want  to  make  her- 
self out  an  old  maid  of  seventy." 

"Purely  mercenary  at  the  start,"  Julia  opined. 
"As  I  understand  it,  Burton  saw  her  advertisement 
for  a  boarder,  and  wrote  her,  supposing  she  was  his 
father's  old  friend.  And  she  decided  to  pass  her- 
self off  as  her  great-aunt  so  as  to  get  as  much  out 
of  Burton  as  she  could." 

"That  young  woman  must  have  plenty  of  nerve. 
It'.s  plain  she  needed  the  money,  as  far  as  that  goes. 
Place  is  terribly  run-down." 

"Oh,  shockingly,"  Mrs.  Knox  corroborated  him, 
in  her  deepest  tones.  "All  the  furniture  I  could  see 
through  the  windows  seemed  mere  wrecks." 

**0n  its  last  legs,"  Warren  agreed.  -He  waited 
for  a  moment  and  then  asked  casually,  "Well, 
what's  the  fuss  about?    What  harm  did  it  do?" 

The  two  women  uttered  a  simultaneous  ejacula- 
tion of  horror.  "A  piece  of  barefaced  fraud," 
cried  Mrs.  Knox. 

"She  has  been  getting  money  under  false  pre- 
tenses," flared  Julia.  "I  believe  she  can  be  arrested 
like  any  other  swindler,  and  punished." 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  257 

Warren  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I  can't  see 
where  the  harm  comes  in,"  he  persisted  stubbornly. 
"She  made  Forbes  comfortable  all  summer,  so  com- 
fortable that  now  he  looks  like  a  baby  that's  being 
weaned.  She  took  his  money,  but  judging  from  the 
meals  I  ate  there,  she  gave  him  his  money's  worth. 
If  she'd  been  an  old  party,  passing  herself  off  as  a 
youthful  beauty,  Forbes  would  have  a  right  to  kick. 
But  under  the  circumstances  is  seems  to  me  you're 
making  a  mountain  out  of  a  mole-hill." 

Warren's  amiable  defense  of  the  guilty  was  not 
well  received.  Aunt  Estelle  regarded  him  with  open 
hostility,  and  Julia  seemed  pained  by  his  moral 
obtuseness.  A  flicker  of  interest  lighted  Forbes'  im- 
passive face  and  suggested  to  Warren  that  his  line 
of  argument  appealed  more  strongly  to  his  mascu- 
line listener  than  to  the  women.  Although  he  held 
no  brief  for  Agatha  Kent,  he  pressed  his  advantage. 

"We  don't  know,  any  of  us,  what  we  might  do 
if  we  were  up  against  it.  I've  often  thought  I  would 
commit  highway  robbery  if  I  were  hungry  enough. 
I'll  say  this  for  the  girl,  anyway:  She  must  be  a 
peach  of  an  actress.  If  she  could  knock  around 
with  a  man  all  summer,  walk  with  him  and  talk  with 


258  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

him  and  pet  him  a  little,  when  he  was  down  in  the 
mouth,  and  yet  never  let  him  suspect  that  she  wasn't 
old  enough  to  be  his  grandmother — " 

"Really,  Mr.  Warren,"  Julia  said  with  asperity, 
"I  can't  see  any  point  in  continuing  this  conversa- 
tion. I  had  hoped  you  might  be  able  to  make  some 
helpful  suggestions  regarding  Burton,  for  of  course 
I  understand  that  you  can't  be  burdened  with  him 
for  more  than  a  few  days.  But  if  you  are  going 
to  spend  the  evening  defending  that  brazen,  red- 
haired—" 

"What!"  roared  Warren.  This  time  he  had  done 
it.  The  head  waiter  looked  in  his  direction  appre- 
hensively. 

Aunt  Estelle  took  the  protest  from  Julia's  lips. 
"Pardon  me,  Mr.  Warren,  but  I  must  remind  you 
that  my  niece  and  I  dislike  to  be  made  conspicuous 
by  such  demonstrations." 

Warren  ignored  the  reproof.  "What  did  you  call 
her?"  he  demanded  of  JuHa,  whose  only  answer  was 
an  offended  stare. 

"Did  you  say  she  was  red-haired  ?" 

*T — I  did.  Though  why  you  should  attach  any 
importance  to  anything  so  trivial,  I  confess  I  don't 
understand." 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  259 

Warren  did  not  attempt  to  enlighten  her.  He  In- 
dicated to  the  waiter  that  he  was  ready  for  his  check 
and  his  manner  was  offensively  jubilant.  "I'm 
afraid,"  he  said  genially,  "that  you'll  have  to  make 
some  plan  for  disposing  of  old  Forbes  besides  com- 
mitting him  to  my  tender  mercies.  I've  just  remem- 
bered that  I'm  going  out  of  town  in  the  morning, 
early  train." 

Julia  looked  startled.  "But  what  is  Burton  to  do, 
then?" 

"Just  what  he  would  have  done  if  you  hadn't  run 
across  me.  Though  if  you'd  like  my  candid 
advice — " 

"Yes,  please,"  said  Julia,  and  tried  to  look  win- 
ning. It  did  not  suit  her  that  Warren  should  slip 
away  in  this  cavalier  fashion,  leaving  her  with  a 
blind  man  on  her  hands.  She  had  important  plans 
for  the  remainder  of  the  week.  Twenty- four  hours 
was  all  she  could  possibly  spare  for  Forbes. 

"Then  I  advise  you  to  marry  him  offhand.  You 
have  taken  him  away  from  one  young  woman  who 
was  devoting  herself  to  making  him  comfortable. 
I  should  say  that  the  least  you  could  do  was  to  fol- 
low her  example." 

Julia's  gasp  of  rage  made  Warren  think  of  a  cat 


260  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

whose  tail  has  been  trodden  on.  From  across  the 
table  Forbes  promptly  requested  him  to  mind  his 
own  business. 

"Just  a  bit  of  good  advice,  old  man,"  Warren 
soothed  him.  "Take  it  or  leave  it,  as  you  please. 
Anything  more  I  can  do  for  you  people  before 
I  go?" 

A  frigid  silence  indicated  that  any  service  he 
could  offer  would  be  unwelcome,  whereupon  War- 
ren, having  tipped  the  waiter  with  a  liberality  indic- 
ative of  a  jocund  spirit,  took  his  smiling  departure, 
leaving  dejection  behind  him. 

After  a  talk  with  the  night  clerk,  it  was  arranged 
that  Forbes  should  remain  at  the  hotel,  an  adaptable 
bell-boy  agreeing  to  act  as  his  valet  in  the  morning. 
Before  Mrs.  Knox  and  Julia  took  refuge  in  another 
hostelry,  the  lovers  had  a  moment  to  themselves. 

Julia  was  in  an  unpleasant  mood.  The  emphasis 
Warren  had  laid  on  Miss  Kent's  histrionic  powers 
had  awakened  her  ready  suspicion.  As  she  found 
herself  alone  for  a  moment  with  her  lover,  his  look 
of  weary  dejection  aroused  her  resentment. 

"It's  most  extraordinary.  Burton,"  she  com- 
plained, "that  you  should  never  have  suspected  her 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  261 

of  being  younger  than  she  pretended.  I  could  see 
that  Mr.  Warren  didn't  beheve  it  for  a  minute." 

Forbes  replied  with  perfect  conviction  that  War- 
ren was  an  ass. 

"I  should  have  thought  that  if  you  didn't  find  it 
out  when  you  were  holding  her  hands,  you  would 
have  realized  it  the  moment  you  took  her  in  your 
arms." 

"Damnation!"  Forbes  was  goaded  beyond  en- 
durance.   *T  never  took  her  in  my  arms." 

"She  said  you  did,"  insisted  Julia,  eying  him  sus- 
piciously. "In  that  preposterous  letter  she  wrote 
me,  you  know.  She  said  you  often  held  her  hands 
and  patted  them  and  that  sort  of  thing." 

"I  did,  I  admit  it.  I  supposed  her  a  contemporary 
of  my  father's,  you  remember." 

"And  she  said  that  once,  under  rather  unusual  cir- 
cumstances, you  took  her  in  your  arms." 

"An  absolute  lie !"  blazed  Forbes.  "But  of  course 
if  you  are  going  to  doubt  my  word,  Julia — " 

Julia  said  no,  that  she  did  not  doubt  him.  She 
added  that  when  a  person  had  lived  a  lie  for  months, 
one  more  little  falsehood  would  not  mean  much. 
Then  she  gave  him  her  hand  to  kiss,  and  was  an- 


2(i2  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

noyed  when  he  only  pressed  it  and  said  good  night. 
She  had  to  remind  herself  that  though  there  was  no 
one  near  to  witness  the  act  of  devotion,  Burton 
could  not  know  that  he  was  unobserved,  and  his  un- 
demonstrative demeanor  was  undoubtedly  due  to  his 
unwillingness  to  compromise  her. 

It  was  while  the  adaptable  bell-boy  was  conduct- 
ing his  charge  to  his  room,  that  enlightenment  came. 
Forbes  gave  a  convulsive  start.  "Damnation!"  he 
exclaimed,  for  the  second  time  in  fifteen  minutes. 

"Yes,  sir,  our  floor,  sir!"  The  bell-boy  eyed  him 
expectantly.  He  had  an  adventurous  spirit,  though 
condemned  to  carry  suit-cases  and  bring  ice-water 
on  request.  It  looked  as  if  there  might  be  something 
doing  with  a  gentleman  who  jumped  so  high  and 
swore  so  roundly  in  a  public  elevator, 

Forbes  had  only  realized  that  the  letter  Julia  had 
quoted  had  contained  no  falsehood.  He  understood 
Warren's  excitement  over  the  discovery  that  Agatha 
Kent  was  red-haired.  Agatha  and  Hephzibah  were 
one  and  the  same. 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  his  taking  her  in 
his  arms  were  unusual,  indeed.  In  the  close  corri- 
dors of  the  city  hotel  he  seemed  to  smell  again  the 
scent  of  sun-kissed  fields.   As  the  bell-boy  gripped 


WARREN  GETS  A  TIP  263 

his  arm,  he  felt  against  his  heart  the  pressure  of  that 
Hthe  young  body,  shaken  by  sobs.  His  cheek  had 
brushed  another,  smooth  and  fragrant.  His  pulses 
had  answered  the  indefinable  challenge  of  youth  and 
beauty.    They  thrilled  again  at  the  mere  memory. 

Forbes  did  not  fall  asleep  till  nearly  morning.  He 
lay  awake,  trying  to  decide  how  far  the  situation 
was  altered  by  the  fact  that  Agatha  Kent  had  saved 
his  life. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  WORM  TURNS 


IN  THE  hour  or  two  o£  troubled  sleep  closing  his 
wakeful  night,  Forbes  dreamed  vividly  and  woke 
with  Agatha's  voice  echoing  in  his  ears.  He  started 
up,  his  lips  parted  to  speak  her  name,  then  dropped 
back  upon  his  pillows  with  a  sense  of  desolate  loss 
that  tried  his  powers  of  self-control. 

So  faithfully  had  his  memory  reproduced  every 
intonation  of  the  familiar  voice  that  it  had  seemed 
to  bring  the  living  woman  to  his  side.  He  recog- 
nized the  maternal  note  which  had  appealed  to  him 
the  more  because  of  his  unmothered  boyhood,  the 
undertone  of  indulgent  humor  which  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  friend  on  whom  he  had  learned  to 
lean.  Only  there  was  no  such  friend.  Her  place 
had  been  taken  by  a  stranger,  capable  of  bewildering 
changes  of  identity,  Miss  Kent,  Hephzibah,  and  now 
this  newcomer,  Agatha,  self-confessed  impostress 
who  could,  even  when  unmasked  and  flouted,  pre- 

264 


THE  WORM  TURNS  265 

serve  the  dignity  which  is  the  heritage  of  race.  He 
found  himself  thrilled  by  an  inexplicable  pride  as  he 
remembered  the  even  voice  with  which  she  had  an- 
swered Julia's  shrillness. 

!  The  adaptable  bell-boy  presented  himself  in  due 
time  and  awkwardly  assisted  him  with  his  dressing. 
After  visiting  the  barber,  he  was  conducted  to  the 
hotel  dining-room,  and  here  the  realization  was 
brought  home  to  him  that  for  many  a  month 
Agatha's  tact  had  stood  between  him  and  embarrass- 
ment. She  had  prepared  his  food  so  that  he  ate 
without  any  especial  sense  of  being  at  a  disadvan- 
tage. His  fork  was  always  at  hand  when  he  wanted 
it.  His  glass  of  water  and  his  cup  of  coffee  were 
magically  present  to  his  need.  In  the  hotel  dining- 
room  he  heard  whispers  at  his  back,  and  once  a 
sound  like  smothered  laughter,  and  he  tingled  with 
the  shamed  consciousness  of  being  a  show  for  curi- 
ous eyes.  His  face  burned  throughout  the  meal,  and 
his  eating  was  largely  pretense. 

Forbes'  engagement  with  Julia  was  for  ten 
o'clock.  At  quarter  before  the  hour,  the  bell-boy 
who  had  taken  him  in  charge  conducted  him  to  a 
stiff  little  parlor  on  the  second  floor,  and  left  him 
after  a  whispered  explanation  to  the  maid.    Time  is 


266  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

proverbially  slow- footed  from  the  standpoint  of  lov- 
crSj  but  as  Forbes  sat  waiting  he  felt  sure  that  his 
impatience  did  not  explain  the  §eemingly  endless 
duration  of  those  fifteen  minutes.  The  maid  came 
to  him  at  last  to  ask  if  there  was  anything  she 
could  do. 

"I'd  like  to  know  the  time,  please." 

"Half  past  eleven,  sir.'* 

"Half  past  eleven,"  Forbes  repeated.  Oddly  his 
first  emotion  was  a  feeling  of  relief  that  Agatha  did 
not  know. 

The  parlor  maid  was  offering  encouragement. 
"Prob'ly  something's  happened  to  detain  the  young 
lady,  sir.    But  I  don't  believe  she'll  be  much  longer." 

"Let  us  hope  not,"  Forbes  replied  dryly.  The 
proudest  of  men,  he  winced  at  the  unmistakable 
sympathy  of  the  woman's  tone.  It  was  not  fair  that 
he  should  be  subjected  to  such  humiliation. 

Julia  arrived  upon  the  stroke  of  noon,  voluble 
over  some  undeniable  bargains  in  blouses.  She  had 
stopped  at  one  of  the  exclusive  little  shops,  preferred 
by  the  knowing  to  the  big  emporiums,  only  intend- 
ing, she  explained  vivaciously,  to  make  one  small 
purchase.  But  the  woman  had  kept  showing  her 
the  loveliest  things,  and  all  so  reasonable.     There 


THE  WORM  TURNS  267 

was  practically  no  one  in  the  place,  so  that  it  had 
seemed  like  shopping  in  some  strange  city.  And  it 
was  worth  coming  to  town  in  the  hot  weather  just 
to  pick  up  such  bargains. 

"I'm  glad  your  effort  was  not  thrown  quite 
away,"  Forbes  remarked  with  an  irony  that  glanced 
harmless  from  Julia's  armor. 

*'Oh,  no.  Burton,  I  don't  grudge  any  sacrifice  I 
have  made.  Getting  you  out  of  the  clutches  of  that 
harpy  was  worth  it  all." 

She  waited  for  a  suitable  expression  of  gratitude 
from  the  gentleman  she  had  rescued.  After  a  pause 
which  Forbes  failed  to  fill  appropriately,  she  spoke 
again,  and  this  time  with  grave  seriousness. 

"Now,  Burton,  it's  only  two  hours  before  my 
train  leaves  and  I  must  have  luncheon,  so  we'd  bet- 
ter lose  no  time  deciding  on  the  wisest  course  to  take 
in  this  affair." 

Again  Forbes  failed  to  respond.  Julia  eyed  him 
suspiciously. 

"I  hope  you  haven't  an  idea  of  passing  this  out- 
rage over  without  taking  any  action,  Burton.  It's 
that  sort  of  laxity  that  makes  criminals." 

"Perhaps  you  have  decided  on  the  punishment  ap- 
propriate to  this  particular  crime,"  said  Forbes,  his 


268  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

voice  rich  in  ironic  inflections,  which  again  passed 
harmlessly  over  Julia's  head. 

"To  tell  the  truth,  I  have.  There's  only  one  point 
on  which  these  mercenary  people  are  really  suscep- 
tible, and  that's  money.  My  advice  is  to  write  her 
that  unless  she  returns  every  penny  you  paid  her, 
you  will  prosecute  her  for  swindling." 

"She  might  not  be  able  to  do  that,  Julia.  I  judge 
from  what  you  all  say  that  she  must  be  poor." 

"Oh,  she's  evidently  that.  Everything  about  the 
place  is  poverty-stricken,  and  the  gown  she  wore 
that  day  was  so  faded  that  you  could  hardly  tell  the 
original  color.  But  I  believe  she  has  all  that  money 
put  aside,  for  don't  you  remember,  the  boy  said  she 
wanted  to  send  him  to  school." 

"I  remember.  And  you  advise  me  to  demand  the 
money  she  has  saved  for  his  schooling,  and  ask  her 
to  charge  up  my  board  for  those  months  to 
charity?" 

Julia  held  to  her  point.  "It's  the  sort  of  thing 
she'd  feel,  because  it's  evident  there's  nothing  she 
wouldn't  do  for  money.  I  confess  I  can't  compre- 
hend that  temperament.  Money  means  so  little  to 
me  that  I  simply  don't  understand  how  it's  possible 
for  people  to  worship  it  as  they  do." 


THE  WORM  TURNS  269 

He  listened  with  growing  irritation.  That  this 
girl  who  had  never  earned  a  dollar,  and  had  never 
denied  herself  anything  she  wanted,  should  assume 
so  superior  an  attitude,  offended  his  sense  of  jus- 
tice. "Perhaps  if  you  knew  more  of  the  value  of 
money,"  he  cut  in  crisply,  "you  might  respect  it 
more." 

"Oh,  I  know  I'm  impractical.  Burton.  Dad  was 
always  making  fun  of  me  for  that."  The  pensive- 
ness  of  her  tone  was  still  evident  as  she  added,  "Per- 
haps you'd  like  to  have  me  write  the  letter  before 
I  go." 

"What  letter?" 

"To  that  woman,  of  course,  threatening  to  prose- 
cute her  unless  she  returns  the  money." 

His  pause  was  long  enough  to  give  the  idea  that 
he  was  considering  her  suggestion.  His  tone  when 
at  length  he  spoke,  implied  nothing  of  the  sort. 

"Thank  you,  Julia.  I  shall  not  need  your  services. 
And  when  I  write  Miss  Kent,  I  shall  enclose  a  check 
to  cover  my  board  till  the  first  of  November." 

He  heard  her  catch  her  breath.  "You  mean  you 
are  going  to  pay  a  premium  for  being  tricked  and 
deceived  ?" 

"She  deceived  me  and  that's  not  easy  for  me  to 


270  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

forgive.  But  I'm  hardly  ready  to  sponge  my  living 
from  a  girl  who  is  making  a  hand-to-hand  fight 
with  poverty." 

"Dear,  it's  dreadful  the  way  you  men  let  your 
chivalry  run  away  with  you.  I  suppose  if  you  were 
on  a  jury,  you  couldn't  bring  yourself  to  convict  a 
woman  of  murder." 

"I  hardly  think  Miss  Kent's  offense  can  be  classed 
in  that  category,"  Forbes  said  stiffly.  *T  suffered 
chiefly  through  the  jolt  to  my  sense  of  dignity. 
That's  always  been  a  sensitive  point  with  me." 

Julia  sighed.  "I  can't  bear  to  have  you  talk  that 
way,  Burton.  It's  bad  enough  for  Mr,  Warren  to 
make  light  of  falsehood  and  treachery.  But  it  seems 
to  me  a  person  capable  of  that,  is  capable  of  any- 
thing." She  laid  her  hand  lightly  on  his.  "Trust 
a  woman's  intuition,  Burton.  Let  me  write  that 
letter." 

Her  touch  not  only  left  him  cold,  but  roused  his 
antagonism.  He  felt  an  irritated  certainty  that  he 
was  being  played  upon.  "Thank  you,  but  I  have 
nothing  to  say  to  Miss  Kent  that  I  can  not  entrust 
to  a  public  stenographer." 

She  did  not  take  away  her  hand.  "Let's  not  talk 
of  that  dreadful  woman  any  more,"  she  said,  in  a 


THE  WORM  TURNS  271 

lowered  voice.  "Fate  has  given  us  this  little  hour 
out  of  the  years,  and  we  mustn't  waste  it." 

Her  words  brought  back  something  Agatha  had 
said,  her  scathing  scorn  of  those  who  took  the  easy 
way,  and  then  held  fate  accountable.  The  remem- 
brance steeled  him  against  the  insidious  tenderness 
of  her  voice. 

"You  made  your  choice,  Julia,  as  you  had  a  right 
to  do.    And  I  wish  you  every  happiness." 

The  fragrance  of  a  delicate  perfume  he  had  al- 
ways associated  with  her  enveloped  him.  He  felt 
the  pressure  of  her  body  against  his  arm. 

"What  a  queer,  quiet  hotel  this  is.  Burton.  Right 
in  the  heart  of  the  city  and  yet  we're  as  much  alone 
as  if  we  were  off  somewhere  in  the  woods." 

Had  she  been  sensitive,  she  might  have  perceived 
a  curious  rigidity  in  the  arm  against  which  she 
leaned,  an  ominous  tightening  of  the  obstinately 
silent  lips.  Her  vanity  felt  the  challenge  of  his  fail- 
ure to  respond.  She  flung  prudence  to  the  winds. 
"Burton!  Burton!"  she  murmured,  and  whether  her 
(emotion  was  real  or  assumed,  he  did  not  know,  "why 
don't  you  kiss  me  ?" 

His  fastidious  recoil  was  strengthened  by  the  sus- 
picion that  she  was  attempting  by  playing  on  his 


272  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

passion  to  mold  him  to  her  will  in  the  matter  of 
Agatha's  punishment.  He  moved  away  a  little. 
"Excuse  me,"  he  said,  "I  shouldn't  dream  of  taking 
such  a  liberty  with  the  fiancee  of  Murray  Prender- 
gast.'* 

"Oh,  don't!"  He  felt  her  shudder,  and  again 
wondered  if  it  were  real,  or  a  pretense.  "All  the 
years  ahead  belong  to  him,  and  just  this  little  mo- 
ment is  yours  and  mine." 

"I  lay  no  claim  even  to  a  moment  of  your  time, 
Julia.    I  asked  from  you  all  or  nothing." 

"Tell  me  just  once  that  you  love  me,  Burton." 

At  his  continued  silence,  she  drew  herself  away. 
"You're  different.  You  don't  care  for  me  as  you 
did." 

She  waited  vainly  for  him  to  deny  the  accusation. 
Then  again  she  caught  his  hand.  She  might  have 
been  a  loyal  wife,  fearing  that  her  husband's  heart 
was  slipping  from  her  grasp  and  longing  to  be  re- 
assured. "Burton,"  she  implored,  "tell  me  whether 
you  love  me." 

"I  thank  God— no." 

She  fell  back,  and  he  could  hear  her  stormy 
breathing.  Well  as  he  knew  every  inflection  of  her 
voice,  he  hardly  recognized  it  when  she  spoke  again. 


THE  WORM  TURNS  273 

"That  wretched  woman!  That  creature!  She's 
to  blame.     She's  stolen  your  heart  from  me." 

"Don't  be  a  fool."  The  brutality,  foreign  as  it 
was  to  Forbes'  training  and  temperament,  seemed 
demanded  by  the  occasion.  "My  heart  and  all  the 
rest  of  me  was  yours  while  you  chose  to  keep  me. 
You  threw  me  away  like  a  worn  glove  when  my 
trouble  came,  and  looked  about  for  a  more  fitting 
match." 

"Burton,  you  said  yourself — " 

"I  own  I  made  your  way  easy  for  you,  Julia.  I 
was  fool  enough  to  be  satisfied  to  have  you  yourself 
and  made  no  inconvenient  demands  in  the  way  of 
loyalty  and  truth.  And  the  fate  you  are  so  fond 
of  invoking  was  kinder  to  me  than  I  deserved." 

"You  love  her.     You  love  that  abandoned — " 

"Stop!"  he  commanded.  "Don't  dare  finish." 
But  he  himself  went  on  talking  rapidly.  "As  far  as 
Miss  Kent  is  concerned,  of  course  I  have  made  it  im- 
possible for  her  ever  to  think  well  of  me  again,  since 
after  her  months  of  uninterrupted  kindness,  I  could 
listen  to  your  venomous  attack  upon  her,  and  not 
speak  a  word  in  her  defense." 

"How  dare  you!  How  dare  you  speak  like  that 
to  me  1" 


274  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Whether  I  love  her  or  not,  I  don't  know.  It's 
too  bewildering  for  me  to  be  sure.  But  I  know  she's 
the  most  loyal  friend,  and  the  dearest  comrade  and 
the  bravest,  most  unselfish — " 

Julia  sprang  from  her  place  beside  fiim  with  a 
cry.  His  face  was  toward  her,  and  at  the  sound  of 
her  voice,  an  extraordinary  thing  happened.  He 
saw  her  for  an  instant  quite  distinctly,  though  the 
face  he  had  loved  had  undergone  as  hideous  a 
change  as  if  death  and  decay  had  done  their  devas- 
tating work  upon  it.  Secure  in  the  knowledge  of 
his  blindness,  she  faced  him  with  the  mask  thrown 
aside.  He  saw  her  features  distorted  by  hate,  her 
eyes  narrowed  malignantly,  her  lips  drawn  back 
from  the  teeth.  Something  Hephzibah  Diggs  had 
said  in  their  memorable  interview  flashed  across  his 
mind.  "When  she  showed  herself  up  for  what  she 
was,  you'd  ought  to  have  got  down  on  your  marrow 
bones  and  thanked  the  Lord." 

Darkness  shut  down  over  the  unwelcome  vision. 
There  was  a  rushing  in  his  ears  so  that  he  heard 
only  faintly  Julia's  farewell,  "I  hate  you !  Oh,  how  I 
hate  you!"  He  leaned  back  against  the  cushions, 
realizing  that  he  was  a  sick  man,  but  enveloped  in 
a  strange   serenity.     When  next  the  parlor  maid 


THE  WORM  TURNS  275 

i 

proffered  her  services,  he  sent  her  to  telephone  for 
his  physician.  An  hour  later  he  was  comfortably 
ensconced  in  a  private  hospital  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  and  sick  as  he  felt,  his  mood  was  increasingly 
cheerful,  for  the  doctor  considered  the  momentary 
return  of  vision,  elusive  and  disappointing  as  it  had 
been,  most  encouraging. 

It  was  a  week  before  Forbes  was  equal  to  dic- 
tating a  letter  to  Agatha.  He  passed  over  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  their  parting,  expressed  rather 
formally  his  sense  of  gratitude  and  enclosed  a  gen- 
erous check.  His  acknowledgment  came  with  grati- 
fying promptness.  But  the  nurse  on  opening  the 
envelope  was  puzzled. 

"It  doesn't  seem  a  letter  at  all,  just  bits  of  paper. 
Why,  it  looks  like  a  check,  torn  into  little  pieces." 

"You  can't  find  the  number  of  the  check  among 
the  scraps,  can  you?"  asked  Forbes. 

The  nurse  could  and  did  and  Forbes'  suspicion  be- 
came certainty.  He  turned  on  his  pillow,  unreason- 
ably wounded.  The  Agatha  Kent  he  had  loved  and 
trusted  had  never  been,  and  this  stranger  who  called 
herself  by  the  familiar  name  had  rejected  his  over- 
ture of  friendship. 


CHAPTER  XX 


THE  DAY  AFTER 


THE  day  of  judgment  has  Its  drawbacks,  but 
it  is  the  day  after  that  really  hurts.  The  first 
shock  numbs.  It  is  when  the  nipping  pain  begins, 
the  remorseless  pain  too  cruel  to  kill,  that  the  sin- 
ner takes  the  full  measure  of  his  punishment. 

On  the  day  of  Forbes'  departure,  Agatha  ate  her 
evening  meal  as  usual  and  went  to  bed  at  eight 
o'clock.  She  slept  heavily  till  midnight,  roused  and 
speedily  dozed  off  again,  but  now  to  be  the  victim  of 
torturing  dreams. 

Years  before  a  pet  dog  of  Howard's  had  become 
old  and  sickly  and  Agatha's  father  had  decided  it 
must  be  killed.  He  had  attempted  to  shoot  the  ani- 
mal in  its  sleep,  but  his  nervousness  had  caused  him 
to  miss  his  aim.  It  had  taken  three  shots  to  finish 
the  business.  Agatha  had  come  upon  the  scene  just 
in  time  to  see  the  look  the  dying  brute  turned  on  its 
idolized  master,  and  the  incident  had  stamped  itself 

276 


*  THE  DAY  AFTER  277 

on  her  memory  as  the  supreme  tragedy  in  her  ex- 
perience. She  invariably  dreamed  of  it  when  fever- 
ish and  ill.  This  night  she  underwent  the  familiar 
agony  with  a  difference.  In  the  grotesque  necro- 
mancy of  the  dream-world,  the  wounded  dog  had 
become  Forbes,  turning  his  stricken  gaze  upon  the 
friend  who  had  done  him  to  death.  She  woke  in  a 
cold  sweat  and  did  not  sleep  again. 

At  four  o'clock  she  was  up  and  cleaning  house  as 
the  one  adequate  antidote  for  the  remorseful 
thoughts  that  threatened  to  wreck  her  reason.  She 
worked  furiously  all  the  morning,  barely  stopping 
to  eat.  Miss  Finch  watched  her  from  a  distance, 
heart-wrung  and  afraid,  but  knowing  from  experi- 
ence that  at  certain  crises  Agatha  was  best  left  to 
herself.  Howard,  with  the  characteristic  masculine 
reluctance  to  witness  suffering  out  of  his  power  to 
relieve,  took  his  fishing  rod  and  departed  for  a  day 
of  his  favorite  sport. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Ridgeley 
Warren  came  strolling  up  the  driveway  between  the 
rows  of  stately  trees  which  made  the  battered  old 
house  at  the  end  of  the  avenue  appear  an  anti-climax, 
and  so  reached  her  unheralded.  Agatha  had  thrown 
a  braided  rug  across  the  clothes-line  and  was  beat- 


278  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ing  it  as  if  she  had  a  personal  spite  against  each 
individual  rag.  The  sun  was  full  on  her  hair  and 
despite  her  menial  occupation,  she  seemed  to  him  a 
splendid  figure,  furiously  vital,  crowned  with  light. 
Excitement  whipped  up  his  pulses  as  he  left  the 
driveway  and  walked  across  the  grass  in  her  direc- 
tion, but  when  near  enough  to  make  his  voice  heard 
above  the  volley  of  blows,  he  only  said  noncha- 
lantly, "Good  afternoon,  Hephzibah." 

Agatha  turned  and  stood  panting.  She  had  been 
working  at  high  pressure  since  daybreak,  and  close 
inspection  revealed  not  a  masquerading  goddess  but 
a  tired,  bedraggled  girl.  Her  hair  had  slipped  from 
the  restraining  pins  and  a  wayward  coil  partly 
extinguished  one  eye.  Her  fair  skin  was  clouded  by 
successive  layers  of  dirt.  A  disfiguring  smudge  suc- 
cessfully effaced  the  dimple  in  her  chin.  With 
quickening  admiration  Warren  realized  that  this 
soiled  and  disheveled  apparition  still  had  a  distinct 
claim  to  beauty. 

"Hard  at  work,  I  see,  Hephzibah."  He  stood 
with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  immaculate  in  his  light 
summer  clothing,  and  as  always  he  roused  her  to 
defiance. 

"My  name  is  Kent.    Please  use  it." 


THE  DAY  AFTER  279 

"I'm  ready  to  call  you  anything  you  please,  my 
dear  spitfire.  Only  remember  that  it's  not  my  fault 
that  I've  always  thought  of  you  as  Hephzibah." 

Agatha  glared  at  him.  His  presence  restored  her 
poise.  She  realized  that  as  an  antidote  Warren  was 
better  than  a  thousand  years  of  house-cleaning. 

"I  don't  know  why  you  should  think  of  me  as 
Hephzibah  or  anything  else.  I  don't  know  why  you 
shouldn't  dismiss  me  from  your  mind  altogether  as 
I  should  like  to  dismiss  you." 

*'Out  of  the  question,  Hephzibah,  or  Miss  Agatha 
Kent,  if  you  like  that  better.  You  see,  you  inter- 
est me." 

"I'm  sorry  I  can't  return  the  compliment,  but  you 
bore  me — excruciatingly." 

"To  begin  with,"  Warren  explained  analytically, 
"you  are  the  prettiest  girl  I  know,  bar  none.  And 
in  the  second  place,  I'm  inclined  to  believe  you're 
the  brainiest.  If  what  they  told  me  last  night  is 
true,  you  ought  to  make  your  fortune  on  the  stage." 

Agatha  regarded  him  silently  and  the  antagonism 
died  out  of  her  face.  He  was  almost  sorry,  for  it 
left  her  white  and  wan  and  rather  pitiful. 

"You  know  what  a  fraud  I  am,  then?"  she  said 
wistfully. 


280  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"I  know  you're  the  cleverest  girl  of  my  acquaint- 
ance, if  you  could  get  by  with  a  thing  like  that." 

*T  suppose  he  simply  despises  me."  Into  Agatha's 
mind  had  flashed  the  preposterous  hope  that  pos- 
sibly Warren's  tolerant  attitude  toward  her  escapade 
was  shared  by  the  only  man  who  counted. 

"Who  ?  Forbes  ?  Why  the  devil  should  you  care 
what  he  thinks?  Old  Forbes  was  always  a  bit  of  a 
prig." 

Positive  hatred  looked  out  of  Agatha's  eyes. 
"Oh,  I  don't  know.  I  shouldn't  call  a  man  a  prig 
simply  because  he  objected  to  being  tricked  and  de- 
ceived and  lied  to.  I  suppose  he  has  a  high  enough 
ideal  of  women  so  that  he  expects  a  girl  to  tell  the 
truth,  just  as  much  as  if  she  were  a  man.  I  con- 
sider that  attitude  a  compliment,  myself." 

Warren  was  somewhat  staggered.  "Then  I  sup- 
pose I'm  insulting  you  by  thinking  you  are  a  darned 
clever  kid,  and  the  rest  of  them  a  pack  of  fools  for 
making  a  fuss  over  nothing." 

Agatha  left  him  in  doubt  on  this  delicate  point. 
The  little  hope  that  had  stirred  in  her  heart  had  died 
almost  as  soon  as  it  was  born,  and  the  resulting 
anguish  seemed  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  brief  ex- 
istence.   Forbes  did  not  share  Warren's  leniency  to- 


THE  DAY  AFTER  281 

ward  her  summer's  masquerade.  He  was  one  of  the 
fools  who  condemned  her.  She  looked  away  toward 
the  hills  and  suddenly  her  face  twisted  in  passionate 
weeping. 

"Don't  do  that,  Hephzibah.  For  God's  sake, 
don't  cry.  Can't  you  let  me  help  you,  little  girl? 
You  need  a  friend  I'm  sure,  and  there's  nothing  I'd 
like  better  than  to  help  you.  You've  bewitched  me, 
Hephzibah.  I  lost  my  head  over  you  when  I 
thought  you  were  an  ignorant  little  country  girl, 
murdering  the  king's  English  every  time  you 
opened  your  mouth.  And  the  more  I  know  of  you, 
the  more  wonderful  you  seem.  I'm  crazy  about 
you." 

Agatha's  sobs  quieted  as  she  listened.  When  a 
woman  has  been  humiliated  beyond  a  certain  point, 
nothing  can  restore  her  self-esteem  like  being  made 
love  to  by  a  personable  man.  Warren's  irreproach- 
able costume,  his  good  looks,  his  convincing  air  of 
prosperity  all  helped  in  her  struggle  against  intoler- 
able mortification.  Yet  though  she  dried  her  eyes 
at  his  agitated  request,  and  favored  him  with  a  faint, 
watery  smile,  she  thought  of  him,  if  the  truth  be 
told,  less  as  a  lover  than  as  a  life-preserver. 

Warren  sat  upon  the  porch  and  smoked  while 


282  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Agatha  made  herself  presentable.  It  took  her  some 
time  and  he  was  not  sorry,  for  he  wanted  a  chance 
to  get  himself  in  hand.  He  had  said  very  much 
more  than  he  had  intended  to  say  when  he  bought  his 
ticket  that  morning,  and  though  he  did  not  exactly 
regret  his  indiscretion,  he  told  himself  that  he  had 
better  go  slow.  Twenty- four  hours  earlier  the  name 
Agatha  Kent  had  suggested  to  him  a  benevolent  old 
lady  with  a  double  chin,  the  chin  an  entirely  gratu- 
itous contribution  of  his  active  imagination.  Heph- 
zibah  Diggs  was  a  beautiful  but  deplorably  ignorant 
country  girl  who  had  got  herself  into  trouble,  like 
many  another  ignorant  beauty.  It  was  too  soon  to 
propose  to  either.  Yet  as  he  glanced  impatiently  at 
his  watch,  Warren  realized  that  the  charm  of 
Agatha  was  her  unexpectedness.  You  never  knew 
what  she  was  going  to  do.  You  never  could  tell 
what  she  might  make  you  do,  in  spite  of  your  better 
judgment. 

Agatha's  delay  gave  him  the  time  he  needed.  She 
presented  herself  in  a  faded  gingham  which  never- 
theless had  the  advantage  of  being  freshly  laun- 
dered, her  heavy  hair  wound  about  her  head  with  a 
negligence  a  woman  would  have  interpreted  to  mean 
that  to  Agatha,  her  caller  mattered  very  little.    Now 


THE  DAY  AFTER  283 

that  her  face  was  clean  he  saw  how  pale  she  was, 
and  how  dark  the  circles  under  her  eyes,  and  this 
discovery  was  responsible  for  an  unwonted  gentle- 
ness in  his  manner.  He  talked  as  a  big  brother 
might  have  talked,  and  the  instinctive,  virginal  de- 
fiance which  his  unconcealed  admiration  had  always 
roused  in  her,  changed  by  imperceptible  degrees  to 
confidence. 

He  asked  her  bluntly  about  her  finances  and  she 
told  him  without  hesitation  or  evasion.  He  hinted 
at  monetary  assistance  and  she  stopped  him  mid- 
way, with  an  imperious  tilt  of  her  chin  and  a 
haughty  stare.  "You  are  not  talking  to  Hephzibah 
Diggs,"  she  reminded  him. 

Warren  sighed  and  changed  his  tactics.  "Did  you 
ever  think  of  selling  your  place?" 

"I'm  afraid  nobody  would  want  It,  it's  so  dread- 
fully old  and  tumbledown.  And  besides  we've  got 
to  have  a  roof  over  our  heads." 

"You  couldn't  sell  it  here,  of  course.  But  there 
are  possibilities  in  this  place.  A  small  summer  hotel 
ought  to  do  well.  Magnificent  old  trees,  fine  view, 
convenient  to  the  city."  He  studied  his  surroundings 
with  an  appraising  eye.  "It  should  bring  at  least 
fifteen  thousand  if  you  found  the  right  purchaser." 


284  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

She  caught  her  breath  and  the  sound  brought  his 
eyes  back  to  her  face.  What  he  saw  touched  him 
profoundly.  Indeed  he  felt  the  smart  of  tears  under 
his  drooping  lids.  "My  God,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"to  have  her  look  like  that  over  a  paltry  fifteen  thou- 
sand." 

"Then  I  could  send  Howard  to  college,"  Agatha 
was  saying,  breathlessly. 

"Sure  you  could." 

"And  there  would  be  enough  to  take  care  of  Fritz 
— Miss  Finch,  as  long  as  she  lives." 

"I  hope  you'd  do  something  for  Hephzibah 
Diggs,"  said  Warren  gruffly,  to  hide  his  emotion. 
"That  girl  has  something  coming  to  her,  believe 
me!" 

Warren  spent  most  of  his  leisure  entertaining 
people,  but  he  seldom  felt  better  repaid  than  when 
Agatha  greeted  this  jest  with  a  quiver  of  laughter. 

"I  promise  you  she  shall  have  a  new  gingham, 
perhaps  a  party  dress  if  the  money  holds  out." 

"Yes,  that's  what  Hephzibah  would  want,  a  party 
dress,"  said  Warren.  "And  I  speak  for  the  first 
dance  the  first  time  she  wears  it."  He  went  on  to 
discuss  sales  and  investments,  and  Agatha  hung 
upon  his  words.    He  perceived  that  the  practical  line 


THE  DAY  AFTER  285 

appealed  to  her.  His  tentative  love-making  bored 
and  angered  her.  When  he  talked  of  gilt-edged 
first  mortgages,  bringing  six  per  cent.,  she  leaned 
toward  him,  her  reddish-gold  eyes  melting  into  his, 
and  seemed  ready  to  leap  into  his  arms. 

The  carriage  he  had  ordered  came  for  him  at 
what  he  considered  a  ridiculously  early  hour  and  he 
kept  it  waiting  while  he  explained  that  he  would 
immediately  take  up  the  matter  of  the  sale  of  her 
property  with  several  people  who  might  possibly  be 
interested.  She  let  him  hold  her  hand  while  he  pro- 
tracted his  good-by  to  an  unconscionable  length, 
and  he  argued  well  from  this,  till  she  disconcerted 
him  by  saying  faintly,  "Shall  you  see  Mr.  Forbes 
soon?" 

*T  can't  say.  The  fair  Julia  may  have  hustled  him 
away  before  I'm  back." 

*Tf — if  you  should  see  him,"  said  Agatha,  her 
lips  white,  "try  to  make  him  think  kindly  of  me. 
Try  to  make  him  understand  that  I  didn't  realize 
that  I  was  doing  anything  wrong." 

"To  be  sure  I  will,"  replied  Warren  with  mislead- 
ing heartiness.  "But  if  a  man  is  such  a  blasted  fool 
as  to  need  that  assurance,  it's  not  worth  troubling 
your  little  head  about  him,  don't  you  see  ?"   And 


286  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

then  he  said  good-by  again  and  went  off  in  an  un- 
precedentedly  bad  humor,  damning  Forbes  whole- 
heartedly all  the  way  to  town. 

Warren's  call  left  Miss  Finch  pleasurably  excited. 
For  a  man  to  come  out  from  the  city  for  a  few 
hours'  talk  with  a  girl,  argued  his  intentions  serious. 
And  Agatha's  abstraction,  the  dreamy  look  in  her 
eyes,  the  irrelevant  nature  of  her  replies  to  the  sim- 
plest questions,  seemed  to  imply  a  gratifying  re- 
sponsiveness in  her  mood.  Little  did  the  innocent 
spinster  dream  that  Agatha's  absorption  was  due 
to  calculating  the  wisest  expenditure  of  an  income 
derived  from  an  investment  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  in  first  mortgages  at  six  per  cent. 

But  Miss  Finch's  elation  was  short-lived,  for 
Howard  came  home  with  a  startling  piece  of  news. 
"Heard  the  funniest  thing  to-day.  Who  do  you 
suppose  has  been  getting  married?" 

To  please  him  Agatha  hazarded  a  guess.  How- 
ard shook  his  head. 

"It's  the  last  one  you'd  ever  think  of.  Old  Billy- 
goat  Wiggins.  He  married  a  widow  out  on  the 
Jericho  pike  and  I  guess  he's  had  six  or  seven  wives 
already." 

Without  attempting  to  correct  her  brother's  ex- 


THE  DAY  AFTER  287 

aggeration,  Agatha  cast  an  apprehensive  glance  in 
Miss  Finch's  direction.  Miss  Finch  met  her  look 
with  an  air  of  resolute  calm.  At  last  the  matter  was 
settled.  Now  that  one  of  her  lovers  was  out  of  the 
running,  the  only  thing  left  was  to  take  the  other. 
Her  days  of  anxious  deliberation,  due  to  weighing 
one  man  against  his  rival,  were  over,  and  it  was  a 
great  relief.  "Mrs.  James  Doolittle,"  said  Miss 
Finch  to  herself  and  blushed  high.  Well,  Doolittle 
was  as  good  a  name  as  Wiggins.  "I  b'lieve  if  any- 
thing, it's  a  little  more  aristocratic,"  Miss  Finch  de- 
cided. 

But  as  the  evening  wore  on,  she  found  herself  dis- 
quieted. In  her  thoughts  of  James  Doolittle  there 
was  little  of  roseate  illusion.  She  saw  him  mentally 
as  she  had  seen  him  uncounted  times  in  reality,  his 
trousers  patched  and  bagging  at  the  knees,  his  shirt 
soiled  and  faded,  his  hat  suggesting  that  some  preda- 
tory animal  had  taken  frequent  bites  out  of  the 
rim.  "I  do  like  a  man  to  look  neat,"  sighed  Miss 
Finch.  She  recalled  too,  the  tumbledown  cottage 
where  James  Doolittle  had  kept  bachelor's  hall  since 
his  mother's  death  six  years  earlier,  and  compared 
it  disadvantageously  with  her  present  quarters.  Ro- 
mance had  spread  her  wings,  and  taken  flight.    Mar- 


288  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

riage  had  become  a  very  drab,  prosaic  affair.  But 
there  was  no  help  for  it 

Miss  Finch  retired  to  her  room  rather  early  and 
wrote  Mr.  Doolittle  accepting  the  offer  of  marriage 
made  nearly  two  months  before.  It  was  a  prim  lit- 
tle note  and  if  her  delay  had  been  unflattering,  there 
was  nothing  in  her  formula  of  acceptance  to  restore 
the  masculine  amour  propre.  She  said  that  mar- 
riage was  a  very  serious  matter,  and  she  hoped  they 
were  making  no  mistake.  She  signed  her  name 
Zaida  Finch,  and  realizing  that  the  compact  signa- 
ture would  soon  be  replaced  by  that  of  an  unknown 
female,  Zaida  Doolittle,  she  shed  some  agitated 
tears. 

The  letter  was  sealed  and  stamped  on  the  table 
beside  her  and  Miss  Finch  was  lying  awake  won- 
dering whether  the  tongue  of  slander  would  be  set 
wagging  if  she  should  decide  on  giving  the  Doolittle 
cottage  a  thorough  cleaning  before  taking  the  step 
that  would  make  her  its  permanent  mistress,  when 
Phemie  came  blundering  up  the  stairs. 

Miss  Finch  sprang  out  of  bed  and,  candle  in  hand, 
appeared  in  the  doorway.  She  shook  a  chiding  fin- 
ger at  the  girl.  "Don't  make  such  a  racket,"  she 
hissed.   "Everybody's  been  in  bed  for  hours.   You 


THE  DAY  AFTER  289 

oughtn't  to  stay  out  so  late,  Phemie.  It  don't  look 
right  in  a  young  girl." 

Phemie  did  not  seem  aware  that  she  was  being 
scolded.  She  was  full  of  silly  giggles  and  pleased 
to  find  a  confidante  to  share  her  amusement.  She 
pushed  her  way  uninvited  into  Miss  Finch's  room. 

"I  never  had  so  much  fun  in  my  life,"  wheezed 
Phemie  in  what  she  mistakenly  supposed  to  be  a 
whisper.  "Oh,  my  goodness,  I've  laughed  fit  to  bust 
myself." 

"Where've  you  been?"  demanded  Miss  Finch, 
eying  her  disapprovingly. 

"I've  been  to  a  shivaree.  Whole  crowd  of  us 
went.  We  had  horns  and  tin  pans  and  Ernie  Cox 
took  a  cow-bell  along.  Oh,  my  goodness !"  Phemie 
placed  her  hands  on  her  hips,  and  rocked  back  and 
forth  in  an  ecstasy  of  mirth. 

Miss  Finch's  severity  became  more  pronounced. 
"I  think  you  might  have  been  in  better  business. 
Deacon  Wiggins  has  been  married  quite  a  few  times, 
I  know,  but  he's  a  good  citizen  and  a  pillar  of  the 
church." 

"  'Twam't  Deacon  Wiggins.  'Twas  Jim  Doo- 
little.  He  just  got  married  to  that  cross-eyed  old 
maid  who  used  to  work  at  Phelps'  store." 


290  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

When  Miss  Finch  could  get  rid  of  Phemie  she 
tore  the  letter  she  had  so  painstakingly  composed 
into  the  minutest  fragments,  promising  herself  to 
bum  them  in  the  morning  before  any  one  was  up. 
Innocent  as  her  intentions  had  been,  the  fact  re- 
mained that  she  had  written  a  compromising  letter 
to  a  married  man,  and  she  could  not  feel  safe  till 
the  sole  evidence  of  her  indiscretion  had  been  re- 
duced to  ashes.  As  she  climbed  back  into  bed  she 
might  perhaps  have  been  excused  for  indulging  in 
pessimistic  reflections  on  masculine  perfidy,  and  the 
hollowness  of  lovers'  vows,  but  in  point  of  fact  her 
mood  was  eminently  Christian.  To  her  own  secret 
amazement  she  was  chiefly  conscious  of  overwhelm- 
ing relief. 

The  critical  relatives  of  Deacon  Wiggins'  three 
deceased  partners  were  nothing  to  her.  Mr.  Doo- 
little's  tendency  to  wear  his  trousers  with  only  one 
frail  suspender  as  a  support  was  no  concern  of  hers, 
except  as  any  respectable  spinster  might  venture  to 
hope  that  his  rashness  would  not  carry  him  too  far. 
That  good  old  name  Finch,  which  had  been  identi- 
fied with  her  personality  for  half  a  century,  would 
not  be  exchanged  for  any  unfamiliar  polysyllable. 
Without  knowing  it,  she  had  been  shrinkingly  ap- 


THE  DAY  AFTER  291 

prehenslve  of  coming  changes,  and  now  everything 
was  going  on  exactly  as  it  had  before. 

"If  Agatha  marries  Mr.  Warren  and  has  a  family 
of  children,"  thought  Miss  Finch,  "she'll  need  some- 
body reliable  in  the  house.  And  if  she  doesn't  get  a 
husband,  I  ought  to  be  around  to  look  after  her. 
And  anyway,  nobody  can  ever  say  that  the  reason  I 
never  married  is  that  I  never  had  a  chance." 

And  so  comforting  was  that  concluding  thought 
that  even  after  sleep  claimed  her  as  its  own,  a  com- 
placent, almost  a  triumphant  smile,  hovered  about 
Miss  Finch's  parted  lips. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


ENLIGHTENMENT 


WARREN  stamped  the  snow  from  his  feet, 
shook  himself  like  a  wet  dog,  and  entering 
the  apartment  hotel,  passed  at  a  step  from  the  frigid 
zone  to  the  tropics.  At  the  desk  he  gave  his  name 
to  a  businesslike  young  woman  who  ascertained 
over  the  telephone  that  Mr.  Forbes  was  in,  and 
forthwith  Warren  was  shot  to  the  fifth  floor.  A 
smiling  Japanese  boy  opened  the  door  of  Forbes* 
rooms,  and  Forbes  himself  came  forward  and 
gripped  his  friend's  hand. 

For  a  moment  neither  man  found  speech  possible. 
"Congratulations,  old  fellow,"  Warren  got  out  at 
last.    "Best  news  I've  heard  for  many  a  moon," 

He  gave  his  snowy  coat  to  the  waiting  servant, 
seated  himself  and  lighted  a  cigarette  as  a  prelimi- 
nary to  conversation.  "Well,  how  does  it  seem  to 
have  two  eyes  again?  A  bit  intoxicating,  I  fancy. 
Rather  like  too  much  champagne." 

"You  know  when  a  man  has  suffered  enough,  his 
292 


ENLIGHTENMENT  293 

idea  of  perfect  happiness  is  to  have  the  pain  stop," 
Forbes  answered.  *T  suppose  the  only  way  to  size 
up  a  blessing  at  its  real  value  is  to  have  to  do  with- 
out it  for  a  time."  His  words  seemed  to  meet  the 
requirements  in  the  case,  but  Warren's  quick  ear 
detected  in  his  voice  a  note  of  melancholy,  and  he 
thought  he  knew  the  explanation.  Not  being  re- 
markable for  tact,  he  promptly  broached  the  deli- 
cate subject. 

"Well,  the  fair  Julia  has  done  it.  I  got  her  cards 
week  before  last.  Gosh,  when  you  see  the  fellows 
the  dear  girls  marry,  it  almost  seems  a  compliment 
when  they  turn  you  down.  You'd  think  it  would 
take  more  than  the  Prendergast  money  and  family 
connections  and  all  that,  to  sugarcoat  a  pill  like 
Murray." 

"I  wish  her  more  happiness  than  she's  likely  to 
have,  I'm  afraid."  Forbes  spoke  formally,  his  man- 
ner implying  that  it  might  be  as  well  for  Warren  to 
change  the  subject,  but  his  visitor  took  his  time. 

"Oh,  well,  Julia  isn't  capable  of  real  unhappiness. 
She  could  be  uncomfortable,  or  disappointed,  or 
humiliated,  or  anything  that  doesn't  go  too  deep,  but 
unhappiness  is  beyond  her.  That  other  little  girl 
now,  she's  different." 


294  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Forbes  did  not  ask  what  girl  was  referred  to.  He 
kept  his  eyes  on  the  floor. 

"Julia  looks  as  soft  as  a  ripe  plum,"  Warren  con- 
tinued. "Most  of  the  dear  creatures  do,  as  if  a 
rough  word  would  crush  them.  But  believe  me, 
she's  made  of  the  same  hard,  calculating  stuff  as  her 
old  man.  You  never  heard  of  old  Studley's  losing 
any  sleep  over  the  men  he'd  ruined  on  the  street,  did 
you?  Julia  won't  have  a  wrinkle  when  she's  sixty. 
If  anybody  is  going  to  marry  Murray  Prendergast 
it  ought  to  be  that  kind  of  woman." 

H  Forbes  agreed  with  this  frank  expression  of 
opinion,  he  gave  no  sign.  He  had  the  appearance 
of  waiting  patiently  for  the  other  to  finish. 

"Our  little  friend  Hephzibah,"  continued  Warren, 
"is  the  sort  whose  hair  turns  white  in  a  single  night, 
you  know.  Not  that  hers  has — God  forbid.  You 
never  saw  that  hair,  my  boy.  You've  got  something 
to  live  for." 

Forbes  made  a  gesture  of  impatience.  "Do  you 
happen  to  know  Miss  Kent's  address  at  the  present 
time?" 

"Do  you  happen  to  want  Miss  Kent's  address  at 
the  present  time?"  mocked  Warren  truculently. 

Forbes  hesitated.    "Yes,"  he  said  with  a  seeming 


ENLIGHTENMENT  295 

effort  at  frankness,  "I  do.  Some  of  the  things  that 
were  said,  Warren,  about  her  poverty,  you  remem- 
ber, caused  me  considerable  uneasiness.  I  felt  that 
my  leaving  as  I  did  when  she  had  counted  on  having 
me  until  the  cold  weather,  might  have  embarrassed 
her,  and  whatever  ground  I  may  have  had  for  re- 
sentment, I  had  no  wish  to  add  to  her  financial  wor- 
ries. And  so  I  sent  her  a  check  for  the  full  amount 
I  would  have  paid  for  board,  up  to  the  first  of 
November." 

Warren  laughed  sardonically.  "Oh,  you  did,  did 
you?" 

"Yes,  I  did."  Forbes'  manner  was  a  trifle  ag- 
grieved.   "She  returned  it." 

"Of  course!" 

"Perhaps  you  are  in  her  confidence,"  Forbes  said 
in  a  tone  of  annoyance. 

"She  never  mentioned  that  particular  matter  to 
me.  But  I  am  glad  to  believe  that  she  repays  my 
friendship  by  a  degree  of  trust." 

Forbes  waited  a  moment  before  continuing  his 
explanation.  "I  did  not  write  her  again  for  some 
time.  I  was  rather  put  out  by  the  return  of  the 
check,  foolishly,  I  suppose.  But  the  last  of  Novem- 
ber I  sent  her  a  rather  long  letter.     You  know. 


296  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Ridgeley,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  the  girl  saved 
my  life." 

"Well?" 

"The  letter  came  back  to  me  from  the  Dead  Let- 
ter Office.  I  thought  it  was  a  trick  of  some  sort.  It 
seemed  incredible,  you  know,  that  when  her  family 
has  been  living  at  Oak  Knoll  for  generations,  she 
should  drop  out  of  sight  and  leave  no  more  trace 
than  an  extinguished  candle  flame.  I  sent  Evans 
down  to  look  her  up,  and  he  reported  that  the  three 
of  them.  Miss  Kent,  her  foster  brother,  Howard, 
and  Miss  Finch,  had  all  left  town,  and  none  of  the 
old  neighbors  could  give  him  any  information  as  to 
their  whereabouts.  The  old  place  has  been  sold  to 
some  one  who  is  planning  to  build  a  summer  hotel 
on  the  site.'* 

Warren  nodded.  "I  engineered  that  deal.  It's  a 
good  location  for  such  an  enterprise.  She  sold  for 
twelve  thousand.  I  think  I  could  have  got  her  two 
or  three  thousand  more,  if  she  had  been  willing  to 
wait,  but  she  wasn't." 

Forbes  tried  to  appear  relieved.  "Twelve  thou- 
sand !  Well,  I  am  glad  to  know  she  is  not  in  imme- 
diate need.  At  the  same  time,  Ridgeley,  I  should 
like  her  address." 


ENLIGHTENMENT  297 

Warren  eyed  him  with  malevolence.  *Tt  looks 
to  me  as  if  she  wasn't  particularly  anxious  for  you 
to  have  it." 

Forbes  reddened.  "Nonsense!  Don't  be  an  ass, 
Warren.  It's  quite  important  that  I  should  have  a 
talk  with  Miss  Kent." 

"I  suppose  you  want  to  be  sure  that  she's  suffi- 
ciently penitent  for  the  deception  she  practised  on 
you." 

"Really,  my  dear  fellow,  I  can  hardly  see  that  it 
is  any  of  your  business  what  I  have  to  say  to  her." 

"Simply  that  I'm  a  friend  of  the  lady's.  And 
the  only  reason  that  I'm  not  her  husband  is  that 
she's  refused  me,  by  letter  and  word  of  mouth,  just 
eleven  times  by  actual  count.  A  singularly  consist- 
ent character,  our  Hephzibah." 

Forbes  sat  biting  his  lips.  "I'm  very  sorry,  War- 
ren.   I  needn't  say  I  had  no  idea — " 

"Of  course  you  had  no  idea.  You  took  her  devo- 
tion as  a  matter  of  course.  You  let  your  Julia  insult 
her  without  speaking  a  word  in  her  defense.  And  it 
never  occurred  to  you  that  another  man  might  think 
her  unselfishness  and  her  courage  and  her  beauty 
and  her  wit  made  her  a  woman  in  a  million." 

"I  must  correct  you  on  one  point,"  Forbes  said 


298  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

stifHy.  "It  is  true  the  discovery  that  Miss  Kent  was 
not  what  I  supposed  her  took  me  by  surprise  and  I 
was  both  hurt  and  angry.  But  the  engagement  be- 
tween Miss  Studley  and  myself  was  broken  finally 
and  irrevocably  because  I  defended — partly  at  least 
— the  course  Miss  Kent  had  taken."  He  hesitated 
before  adding,  "If  you  really  wish  to  marry  her — " 

"Oh,  to  hell  with  your  Hfs!'  I've  been  on  my 
knees  to  her  from  the  first  minute  I  saw  her.  I'd 
marry  her  if  she  were  Hephzibah  Diggs." 

"I  was  only  going  to  say,  Ridgeley,  that  if  you  are 
in  earnest,  you  are  pretty  sure  to  win  out.  I  can 
hardly  imagine  any  woman's  continuing  to  turn 
you  down." 

Warren  did  not  appear  touched  by  the  obvious 
sincerity  of  this  tribute.  He  glowered  at  the  other 
man  ill-naturedly. 

"I  dare  say  she  would  have  married  me  but  for 
one  thing.    I  came  on  the  scene  too  late." 

"Joo  later' 

"Another  man  got  ahead  of  me.  She  couldn't 
love  me  because  she  loved  him." 

"Do  you  mean  that  she's  engaged?" 

"Damn  you !"  Warren  shouted  furiously.  "Don't 
put  on  those  unconscious  airs  with  me.    You  know 


ENLIGHTENMENT  299 

well  enough  what  man  I  mean,  and  you  know 
whether  you're  engaged  to  her  or  not." 

"You're  out  of  your  mind,  Warren.  You're  talk- 
ing like  an  insane  man." 

"Let  it  go  at  that,  then.    Call  it  that  I'm  crazy." 

"If  you  will  remember  that  I  thought  Miss  Kent 
an  elderly  woman,  you  will  realize  that  I — " 

**0h,  your  immaculate  skirts  are  clean,"  exclaimed 
Warren,  with  preposterous  bitterness.  "You  didn't 
make  love  to  the  nice  old  lady  who  was  your  father's 
boyhood  flame.  But  you  were  so  helpless  and  so 
darned  pathetic  and  so  dependent  on  her  that  you 
didn't  have  to.  She's  not  like  Julia,  looking  for  an 
easy  berth  and  a  through  ticket.  Her  idea  of  love 
is  giving,  giving  without  keeping  count." 

"You  don't  know  what  you're  talking  about,"  said 
Forbes,  but  with  less  conviction. 

"Don't  I,  though !  Do  you  remember  the  scheme 
we  hatched  to  send  Hephzibah  to  school?" 

Forbes  nodded. 

"I  came  up  and  had  a  talk  with  her.  Of  course 
she  was  playing  a  part,  but  it  wasn't  all  play-acting. 
She  practically  told  me  there  w^as  somebody  she 
cared  for.  She — hang  it  all,  Forbes,  she's  not  al- 
ways the  audacious  little  devil  who  can  palm  her- 


300  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

self  off  on  an  intelligent  man  as  her  own  great-aunt, 
and  never  miss  a  cog.  There  was  a  look  on  her 
face  when  she  spoke  of  that  man — she  was  all  angel, 
then/' 

"But  what  possible  reason  have  you  for  thinking 
— why,  you  make  me  feel  an  ass  for  listening." 
Forbes'  humility  was  so  obvious  as  to  be  disarming. 

"I  know  you're  the  man.  She  was  always  at  me 
to  have  a  talk  with  you  and  plead  her  cause,  you 
know." 

"But  surely  that  wouldn't  mean — " 

"Yes,  if  you'd  seen  her  eyes.  You  know  how  a 
dog  looks  when  his  master  kicks  him.    Like  that." 

"Good  God,  Warren—" 

"Oh,  I  don't  suppose  you  like  it,"  said  Warren 
grimly.  "But  let  me  remind  you  that  if  it's  un- 
pleasant for  you  to  listen,  it's  hell  for  me  to  tell  you. 
I  suppose  you  know  what  brought  Julia  to  Oak 
Knoll  to  rescue  you  by  force  of  arms." 

"I  believe  Miss  Kent  wrote  a  letter." 

"Yes,  under  pretense  of  congratulating  Julia  oil 
her  prospective  engagement,  she  wrote  her  that  you 
had  been  spending  the  most  of  your  summer  in  the 
company  of  an  attractive  young  girl.    She'd  sized  up 


ENLIGHTENMENT  301 

Julia's  disposition  pretty  cleverly  and  she  reckoned 
that  if  anything  would  hold  her  back,  it  would  be  a 
suspicion  that  there  was  a  flaw  in  her  title  to  your 
life-long  devotion." 

"But  surely  if  she  had  felt  as  you  imagine — " 

"We're  talking  of  Hephzibah,  you  know," 
growled  Warren.  "She  was  thinking  of  your  hap- 
piness, not  of  hers.  Of  course  she  knew  she  was 
taking  a  long  shot.  She  was  too  smart  to  miss  that 
little  point.  She  risked  exposure  to  give  you  what 
you  wanted.  That's  the  sort  she  is."  He  added 
gloomily,  "I  don't  know  why  I'm  such  a  fool  as  to 
tell  you  all  this.  I  suppose  it's  because  I  know  I 
haven't  the  ghost  of  a  chance." 

There  was  a  long,  depressing  silence.  "Well," 
said  Forbes  at  length,  his  voice  curiously  shaken, 
"where  shall  I  find  her?" 

"Good  God,  man,  I  don't  know." 

"You  don't  know?" 

"The  last  word  I  had  from  her  was  a  Christmas 
card  and  the  blasted  post-mark  was  so  blurred  that 
I  couldn't  make  out  where  it  was  mailed.  And  in 
November  I  had  this  letter.  You  might  as  well  read 
it,  I  suppose." 


302  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

He  took  the  worn  missive  from  his  pocket, 
handed  it  to  Forbes,  and  began  to  smoke  furiously. 
Forbes,  his  face  very  pale,  read  without  comment. 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Warren  : 

"Well,  the  thing  is  accomplished.  I  am  a  capital- 
ist, a  woman  of  wealth,  and  also  a  wanderer  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  But  I'm  not  worrying  about  that 
side  of  it,  it's  so  delicious  to  feel  that  all  this  money 
is  mine  and  that  I  can  have  a  trunk  full  of  new 
clothes  if  I  feel  like  it. 

"Howard  left  for  school  yesterday.  He  will  be  a 
little  behind  his  class,  but  the  principal  thinks  he  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  catching  up  if  he  is  willing  to 
work.  Howard  is  so  ambitious  and  eager  that  I 
know  he  is  going  to  make  me  proud  of  him. 

"You  see  I  am  sending  you  a  check.  It  was 
awfully  good  of  you  to  want  to  put  this  deal  through 
because  of  your  interest  in  me,  but  I  can't  help 
thinking  it's  better  to  be  businesslike  in  business  and 
friendly  in  friendship.  So  this  check  is  for  the  cele- 
brated lawyer,  Mr.  Warren,  who  has  managed  this 
affair  so  wonderfully,  and  my  heart- felt  gratitude  is 
for  my  dear  friend,  Ridgeley  Warren,  whose  kind- 
ness and  generosity  have  been  so  much  more  than  I 
deserved.  I  shall  never  forget  it.  When  I  am  a 
wrinkled  old  woman,  and  can  smile  at  some  of  the 
things  that  hurt  now,  it  will  warm  my  heart  to  re- 
member your  goodness. 

"Dear  Mr.  Warren,  I  am  not  going  to  write  you 
again  at  present.  I  have  a  feeling  that  if  you  keep 
on  seeing  me,  you  are  more  likely  to  keep  on  wish- 


ENLIGHTENMENT  303 

ing  for  something  it  is  better  for  you  to  forget, 
I  am  sure  your  generosity  has  more  to  do  with  your 
feeling  than  you  have  any  idea  of,  and  that  when  I 
am  no  longer  at  hand  to  make  a  continual  appeal  to 
your  sympathy,  you  will  soon  be  your  usual  self. 
I  hope  you  will  love  the  most  beautiful  and  noblest 
girl  in  the  world  and  marry  her,  and  if  you  ever 
have  reason  to  think  that  she  doesn't  appreciate  the 
fact  that  she  has  drawn  a  prize,  just  send  for  me 
and  I'll  open  her  eyes. 

"Words  seem  such  inadequate  things,  don't  they, 
when  one's  heart  is  full?  I  wish  you  could  know; 
all  I  mean  when  I  say,  Thank  you. 

"Gratefully  yours, 

"Agatha  Kent. 

"P.  S.  You  will,  I  am  sure,  be  seeing  Mr.  Forbes 
soon.  The  greatest  favor  you  can  do  me  is  to  make 
him  understand  how  thoughtlessly  I  entered  on  the 
deception  he  so  naturally  resents.  You  see  we  were 
such  good  friends  in  a  way — he  really  liked  me  and 
trusted  me  while  he  thought  I  was  somebody  else — 
it  hurts  to  realize  how  completely  I  have  forfeited 
his  good  opinion.  You  seem  to  understand  so  well 
that  perhaps  you  may  influence  him  to  think  of  me  a 
little  more  kindly." 

Forbes  folded  the  letter  and  gave  it  to  its  owner. 
"You  deserve  her  if  any  man  does,  Ridgeley,"  he 
said  with  proper  humility, 

"I  deserve  her  more  than  you  do,  if  that's  what 
you're  trying  to  say,"  barked  Warren.     "And  now 


304  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

you  see  what  we're  up  against.  Between  us  we've 
lost  all  trace  of  her." 

"We  must  find  her  again,"  Forbes  said  firmly. 

Warren's  hostile  gaze  challenged  him.  "What 
for?  Do  you  want  to  rub  it  in  how  she's  outraged 
the  sacred  name  of  truth  and  all  that  rot?" 

"No." 

"Perhaps  you're  going  to  be  magnanimous 
enough  to  forgive  her?" 

"Possibly,"  Forbes  offered  quietly,  "I  want  to  ask 
her  to  forgive  me." 

Warren's  unhappy  eyes  met  his  full.  "I  suppose 
I'm  in  a  rotten  humor,  old  man.  I  do  think  you're 
a  damned  sight  luckier  than  you  deserve  to  be.  But 
let  it  go.    The  question  is,  how  are  we  to  find  her  ?" 

As  one  result  of  the  deliberations  protracted  over 
several  hours,  the  following  advertisement  appeared 
in  the  leading  newspapers  of  a  dozen  large  cities : 

"Information  wanted.  Any  person  acquainted 
with  the  present  whereabouts  of  Hephzibah  Diggs 
will  confer  a  favor  by  communicating  at  once  with 
the  imdersigned." 

The  anxious  weeks  went  by.  The  two  men  con- 
sulted almost  daily,  with  growing  perplexity  and 
diminishing  hope.    And  Agatha  made  no  sign. 


CHAPTER  XXU 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS 


THE  hat  Agatha  was  adjusting  before  the 
mirror  was  a  black  toque  with  a  quill  at  the 
side.  On  most  heads  it  would  have  possessed  no 
more  individuality  than  a  clover  blossom.  It  was 
one  of  the  hats  which  apparently  are  planned  with 
a  view  to  being  inconspicuous.  But  as  Agatha 
pinned  it  in  place  it  seemed  to  assume  a  certain  pro- 
vocative quality.  It  became  a  challenge  to  the  mas- 
culine eye. 

The  same  was  true  of  the  blue  serge  suit  she  wore. 
Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  innocuous  than  a 
suit  of  blue  serge,  embellished  with  narrow  black 
braid.  Miss  Finch  could  have  worn  one  of  the  iden- 
tical cut  and  material  and  it  would  have  looked  as 
if  it  had  been  designed  for  her.  Yet  on  Agatha  the 
blue  serge  was  alluring.  It  captured  the  eye  as 
though  striped  with  scarlet. 

Mrs.  Van  Home,  a  stout,  middle-aged  woman 
305 


306  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

who  occupied  a  swivel  chair  at  a  businesslike  desk, 
watched  the  operation  of  adjusting  the  black  toque 
and  rubbed  her  nose  witH  a  flourish  indicating  men- 
tal perturbation.  It  had  occurred  to  her  that  Agatha 
was  a  somewhat  colorful  person  for  the  task  to 
which  she  had  been  assigned,  that  she  looked  unde- 
niably youthful  for  so  responsible  an  errand,  that 
some  one  grayer  in  tone  and  of  an  aspect  radiating 
propriety  and  decorum,  would  have  been  better  fitted 
for  the  duty  in  hand.  Mrs.  Van  Home  looked  at  the 
clock,  saw  it  lacked  but  thirty-seven  minutes  to  train 
time,  and  brushed  aside  her  scruples.  It  was  now 
too  late  to  change. 

"You  are  sure  you  feel  equal  to  taking  charge  of 
the  four.  Miss  Kent?"  she  said,  more  for  the  reas- 
suring effect  of  Agatha's  self-confident  answer  than 
because  she  had  the  slightest  doubt  what  that  answer 
would  be. 

Agatha  turned  a  vivacious  face.  "I'm  really  look- 
ing forward  to  the  trip.    It'll  be  such  fun." 

"I  should  hardly  use  that  term  to  describe  travel- 
ing in  charge  of  four  children,"  observed  Mrs.  Van 
Home,  with  a  grim  smile.  "And  one  of  them  a 
teething  baby.  You  will  naturally  attract  a  good 
deal  of  attention." 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  307 

"Not  a  bit,"  said  Agatha  briskly. 

"You  think  not?" 

"Every  one  will  take  it  for  granted  that  I  am  a 
young  mother,  coming  home  with  my  little  family  to 
visit  grandpa  and  grandma." 

Mrs.  Van  Home's  brow  cleared.  As  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  serious-minded  organization,  with  an 
established  reputation  for  prudence  and  sagacity,  she 
had  been  accusing  herself  of  indiscretion  in  entrust- 
ing this  important  commission  to  a  young  woman  of 
such  butterfly  aspect,  even  though  in  self-defense 
she  insisted  that  of  her  assistants,  Miss  Kent  was 
easily  the  most  resourceful  and  capable.  Agatha's 
suggestion  brought  relief.  Without  doubt  she  was 
right.  The  traveling  public  would  assume  her  to  be 
a  matron  of  extraordinarily  youthful  appearance. 
No  one  would  question  the  discretion  of  the  head  of 
the  Hamilton  Orphanage  for  committing  four  chil- 
dren to  the  care  of  one  who,  whatever  her  capacity, 
looked  a  fly-away  girl. 

"I  imagine  you  are  right,  Miss  Kent,"  she  said. 
"And  if  I  were  you,  I  should  take  no  pains  to  correct 
the  impression.  It  will  s^ve  you  a  great  many  an- 
noying questions." 

A  maid  appeared  with  news  that  the  taxi  had  ar- 


308  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

rived.  A  nurse  brought  in  the  baby,  hooded  and 
cloaked  for  its  journey.  Outside  on  the  steps  waited 
the  three  older  children,  about  to  be  placed  in  homes 
which  had  been  duly  inspected  and  approved  by  au- 
thorized representatives  of  the  orphanage.  As 
Agatha  assembled  her  charges  and  led  the  way  to 
the  cab,  little  faces  appeared  at  the  windows,  small 
hands  waved  farewells  and  a  chorus  of  shrill  voices 
called  good-by.  An  irrepressible  little  orphan  of  a 
plainness  which  so  far  had  defied  the  efforts  of  the 
society  to  place  her  in  a  desirable  home,  came  run- 
ning to  the  curb  as  Agatha  was  arranging  her 
charges  about  her.  "I  don't  want  anybody  to  'dopt 
you.  Miss  Kent,"  she  quavered. 

"Bless  your  heart !"  Agatha  leaned  out  and  kissed 
her  squarely.  "No  one's  going  to  adopt  me.  I'll  be 
back  by  Saturday." 

As  the  cab  rattled  down  the  street,  Agatha  turned 
for  a  look  at  the  square,  uncompromising  building 
where  she  had  found  a  haven  six  months  before. 
Despite  the  opulent  tone  of  her  letter  to  Warren, 
Agatha  had  fully  realized  that  twelve  thousand  dol- 
lars does  not  constitute  wealth.  Howard's  educa- 
tion was  provided  for,  and  that  was  an  enormous 
relief,  but  her  responsibility  for  Miss  Finch  still  lay 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  309 

heavy  on  her  heart  and  she  was  determined  not  to 
draw  on  her  principal  any  more  than  was  absolutely 
necessary.  The  opening  at  the  Hamilton  Orphanage 
had  come  to  her  through  a  series  of  fortunate  acci- 
dents, and  Agatha  had  flung  herself  into  the  work 
with  an  enthusiasm  which  had  insured  her  immedi- 
ate success.  Agatha  loved  the  orphanage  and  the 
orphans.  The  maternal  instinct,  always  strong  in 
her,  exulted  in  the  swarm  of  children  on  whom  she 
could  lavish  herself.  There  was  no  urchin  so  refrac- 
tory that  Agatha  could  not  find  excuses  for  him,  no 
little  face  so  plain  that  she  could  not  discern  in  it 
something  of  winsomeness.  She  saw  the  humor  in 
the  naughtiness  of  some  unruly  youngster  where 
most  of  her  associates  perceived  only  irrefutable 
confirmation  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  Mrs. 
Van  Home,  accustomed  to  aids  who  did  their  duty 
with  automatic  faithfulness,  found  Agatha  too  good 
to  be  true. 

Miss  Finch  boarded  In  the  vicinity  of  the  orphan- 
age and  Agatha  spent  with  her  all  the  time  she  was 
not  on  duty.  It  had  been  hard  to  reconcile  Miss 
Finch  to  being  in  the  same  city  with  Warren  and  not 
acquainting  him  with  the  fact.  The  sudden  ter- 
mination of  her  own  double  romance  had  intensified 


310  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

her  passionate  interest  in  Agatha's  love-affairs. 
She  thought  of  the  subject  continually.  She 
dreamed  of  Agatha  as  a  bride  lovely  in  creamy 
silk  and  floating  veil.  She  harped  on  the  subject 
till  Agatha's  nerves  suffered  and  sometimes  she  be- 
trayed her  irritation  in  speech. 

Agatha  was  not  thinking  either  of  Warren  or 
Forbes  as  she  was  bounced  to  the  station,  the  baby 
in  her  arms  and  the  three  other  children  mixed  in 
indistinguishably  with  the  luggage.  Children  are 
an  admirable  antidote  to  unprofitable  thinking,  be- 
cause of  their  capacity  for  demanding  one's  entire 
attention.  There  were  two  little  girls  between  three 
and  four  years,  who  looked  rather  like  twins,  but 
were  not  even  sisters,  and  there  was  a  boy  soon  to 
be  five.  The  baby  was  just  getting  old  enough  to 
be  afraid  of  strangers  and  was  fretful  because  of 
teething.  It  did  not  look  as  if  Agatha  would  have 
many  minutes  for  meditating  on  the  hardships  of 
her  own  lot 

At  the  station,  with  the  aid  of  two  sympathetic 
porters,  Agatha  got  her  charges  aboard  the  Pullman 
and  settled  herself  comfortably  some  minutes  in  ad- 
vance of  the  other  passengers.  As  they  entered  by 
ones  and  twos,  she  was  aware  of  interested  glances 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  311 

in  her  direction,  in  some  cases  the  interest  blended 
>vith  apprehension.  "Horrors!"  she  heard  one 
>voman  say  to  her  husband  as  she  passed.  Agatha 
looked  after  her  darkly.  She  was  instantly  con- 
vinced that  the  speaker  was  the  owner  of  a;  toy 
poodle. 

A  moment  before  the  train  pulled  out,  a  man 
came  into  the  Pullman  and  took  his  seat  in  the  sec- 
tion opposite  hers,  glancing  amiably  at  the  promising 
little  family  across  the  aisle.  Agatha  shrank  away 
from  the  look,  feeling  faint  and  sick.  There  was 
an  ominous  ringing  in  her  ears.  So  strong  was  her 
sense  of  panic  that  if  she  had  had  another  moment 
in  which  to  act,  she  might  have  marshalled  her  brood 
off  the  train  and  trusted  to  finding  some  excuse  that 
would  satisfy  Mrs.  Van  Home.  But  before  her 
impulse  toward  flight  had  time  to  crystallize,  the  last 
"All  aboard"  had  been  shouted.  The  train  shud- 
dered, groaned  and  moved  out. 

As  the  clear  daylight  replaced  the  semi-darkness 
of  the  terminal  station,  Agatha  blushed  furiously. 
She  sat  huddled  In  her  comer,  awaiting  the  outcome 
like  a  criminal  who  anticipates  arrest.  Gradually 
her  unreasoning  alarm  was  replaced  by  coherent 
thinking,     li  Forbes  were  still  blind,   she  might 


312  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

travel  as  his  fellow  passenger  to  the  Pacific  coast 
without  his  being  the  wiser.  But  he  had  come  on 
board  unattended,  moving  freely  and  fearlessly.  If 
his  sight  had  been  restored,  she  was  still  safe,  for 
he  had  never  seen  her  face. 

-  After  a  time  she  brought  her  courage  to  the  point 
of  stealing  a  glance  at  him.  A  newspaper  lay  upon 
his  knee,  and  though  he  was  not  reading  at  the  mo- 
ment, its  presence  confirmed  the  impression  she  had 
formed  as  he  entered.  He  could  see  again.  She 
found  herself  trembling  for  gladness  and  swallow- 
ing hard  at  an  obstinate  lump  in  her  throat.  The 
dark  spectacles  he  had  worn  throughout  his  sojourn 
at  Oak  Knoll  had  been  replaced  by  a  pair  of  eye- 
glasses, which,  to  her  prejudiced  judgment,  added 
to  his  air  of  distinction.  Now  that  her  first  un- 
reasonable terror  had  subsided,  she  found  his  prox- 
imity delightfully  exhilarating. 

The  next  thought  brought  a  pang.  If  he  could 
see  again  there  was  no  longer  a  barrier  between  him- 
self and  Julia.  Agatha's  duties  at  the  Hamilton 
Orphanage  left  her  little  time  for  perusing  the  so- 
ciety columns,  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the  city 
journals,  and  she  had  missed  the  detailed  accounts 
of  Julia's  wedding,   with   their  emphasis  on  the 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  313 

beauty  of  the  bride  and  the  family  tonnections  of 
the  groom.  If  he  were  about  to  marry  Julia, 
Agatha  reasoned,  he  should  look  very  happy.  She 
peered  interrogatively  in  his  direction  to  settle  this 
important  point,  encountered  his  eyes  unexpectedly, 
and  looked  away  in  crimson  confusion. 

Forbes  found  the  domestic  group  in  such  close 
proximity  more  entertaining  than  his  newspaper. 
He  thought  he  had  never  seen  a  prettier  picture  of 
radiant  motherhood  than  this  lovely  young  creature 
with  her  little  ones  around  her.  It  was  a  pity,  he 
reflected,  that  none  of  the  children  had  inherited 
her  rare  beauty.  They  were  all  wholesome  little 
youngsters,  bidding  fair  to  grow  to  commonplace 
maturity  as  far  as  externals  were  concerned.  He 
found  himself  forming  a  somewhat  uncompliment- 
ary picture  of  the  father  of  the  quartet,  a  rather 
heavy,  gross  individual  with  a  muddy  skin. 

Other  people  than  Forbes  found  an  irresistible  at- 
traction in  the  family  group.  The  woman  Agatha 
had  branded  as  the  owner  of  a  poodle,  an  overfed 
blonde,  came  down  the  aisle  and  paused  to  settle 
some  points  on  which  she  was  uncertain.  Agatha, 
mindful  of  Mrs.  Van  Home's  injunction,  gave  the 
desired  information  as  to  the  sex  of  the  baby  and 


314  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

the  brand  of  artificial  food  she  favored,  without 
any  hint  that  her  sense  of  responsibility  was  less 
than  maternal. 

"Are  the  little  girls  twins?"  quizzed  the  stout 
woman,  with  an  arrogant  assumption  of  having 
every  right  to  know. 

"No,  the  curly-haired  one  is  the  older." 

"They  must  have  come  very  close,"  said  the  stout 
woman  disapprovingly. 

"There  is  about  six  months'  difference,"  replied 
Agatha  unthinkingly.  The  stout  woman's  start 
told  her  too  late  what  she  had  done,  but  as  no  sat- 
isfactory explanation  occurred  to  her,  she  sat  stol- 
idly making  a  pretense  of  being  absorbed  in  soothing 
the  fretful  baby.  Her  late  interrogator,  assuming 
the  reply  to  be  an  impertinent  substitute  for  telling 
her  to  mind  her  own  business,  stalked  away,  her 
manner  implying  that  she  washed  her  hands  of 
Agatha  and  her  family. 

Agatha  had  no  time  for  unavailing  grief.  Four 
children  under  five  are  capable  of  providing  abun- 
dant occupation  for  the  most  strenuous  nature.  She 
was  rising  for  the  third  time  in  twenty  minutes  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  the  oldest  boy  who  had  an- 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  315 

nounced  emphatically  that  he  was  "fursty,"  when 
Forbes  stepped  across  the  aisle. 

"Just  let  me  wait  on  him,"  he  said.  "At  this 
rate  you  will  be  worn  out  before  you  reach  the  end 
of  your  journey." 

The  sound  of  his  clear  voice  was  almost  her  un- 
doing. She  wanted  to  laugh;  she  wanted  to  cry. 
She  wanted  most  of  all  to  put  her  head  down  on 
his  broad  shoulder  and  cling  to  him  till  he  had  for- 
given her.  As  none  of  these  things  appeared  feasi- 
ble, she  contented  herself  with  saying,  "Thank 
you,"  in  a  voice  so  faint  as  hardly  to  be  audible. 

Forbes  gave  the  restless  lad  a  drink  of  water  and 
took  him  into  his  section.  Agatha  heard  her  charge 
announcing  in  a  penetrating  voice  that  his  name  was 
Charlie  Briggs,  whether  in  answer  to  a  question  or 
not,  she  was  not  sure.  Then  the  small  boy  nestled 
close  to  the  big  man,  and  listened  raptly.  She  judged 
that  Forbes  must  be  telling  him  a  story,  and  after 
the  manner  of  her  kind,  she  found  this  additional 
ground  for  worship.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Forbes 
was  giving  in  detail  the  life-history  of  a  pony  he 
had  owned  when  a  boy.  This  chronicle  concluded, 
he  went  on  to  describe  a  bear  hunt  in  which  he  had 


316  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

once  participated,  and  found  his  reward  in  the  ad- 
miring gaze  his  Hstener  fastened  upon  him. 

Presently  CharHe  Briggs  felt  constrained  to  be 
entertaining  in  turn.  "I'm  going  to  get  a  new  papa, 
pretty  soon,"  he  announced. 

Forbes  felt  an  uncomfortable  sense  of  shock.  If 
the  woman  in  the  opposite  section  were  a  widow, 
the  age  of  the  child  in  her  arms  indicated  that  her 
bereavement  was  extremely  recent.  It  seemed  more 
probable  that  it  was  one  of  the  cases  which  prove 
the  frailty  of  the  marriage  bond  in  America.  He 
did  not  know  why  this  conjecture  should  be  respon- 
sible for  so  marked  a  feeling  of  discomfort. 

He  changed  the  subject  abruptly  and  proceeded  to 
entertain  Charlie  with  an  imaginary  incident  in  the 
life  of  a  gray  squirrel,  taking  Thompson  Seton  as 
his  model.  In  the  course  of  the  narrative  the  baby 
had  an  attack  of  crying  and  its  shrieks  distracted 
Forbes'  attention.  He  hesitated,  lost  the  thread 
of  his  story,  became  hopelessly  entangled. 

Charlie  understood  his  friend's  confusion.  He 
looked  across  the  aisle,  scowling  darkly.  "She's 
going  to  get  rid  of  the  baby  pretty  soon,"  he  in- 
formed his  companion.  "To-morrow  it  won't  be 
'round  to  bother." 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  317 

Again  Forbes  was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  re- 
vulsion. Jhe  child's  remark  was  capable  of  several 
interpretations,  but  to  his  thinking  the  meaning  was 
obvious.  This  pretty  little  woman  was  about  to 
marry  for  the  second  time,  and  the  husband-to-be 
objected  to  the  size  of  the  ready-made  family.  Evi- 
dently she  planned  to  give  the  baby  away.  Rather 
absurdly  Forbes  found  himself  thinking  that  he 
would  not  have  believed  it  of  her. 

The  baby  was  behaving  outrageously,  almost  jus- 
tifying its  mother's  unnatural  intention.  Agatha 
had  become  sadly  disheveled.  Her  hair — she  really 
had  wonderful  hair,  Forbes  owned,  for  all  his  dis- 
approval— was  gradually  slipping  down.  Her  face 
was  crimson  from  her  exertions.  The  shirt-waist, 
immaculate  when  she  boarded  the  Pullman,  was 
mussed,  and  one  shoulder  damp,  due  to  the  baby's 
repeated  experiments  to  ascertain  whether  it  pos- 
sessed nutritive  qualities.  As  Forbes  involuntarily 
looked  at  the  opposite  section,  the  ear-splitting 
sounds  compelling  his  reluctant  attention,  Agatha 
transferred  the  baby's  head  to  the  other  shoulder, 
cuddling  the  little  form  close  to  her  heart.  There  was 
such  divinely  patient  tenderness  in  the  gesture  that 
Forbes  underwent  an  instant  revulsion  of  feeling. 


318  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

He  did  not  understand  it  in  the  least,  but  he  sud- 
denly felt  sure  of  the  woman.  Whatever  the  short- 
comings of  Mr.  Briggs  or  his  probable  successor, 
the  girlish  wife  did  not  lack  womanly  qualities.  He 
was  unjust  enough  to  feel  decidedly  vexed  with  the 
little  boy.  Probably  he  had  listened  to  discussions 
of  matters  he  did  not  understand,  and  mixed  things 
up.  Forbes  told  himself  that  he  had  never  liked 
precocious  children. 

The  baby  suddenly  decided  to  go  to  sleep.  Its 
squalls  ceased  magically.  Its  little  body,  stiffened 
in  unavailing  protest  against  all  the  injustice  of  the 
world,  relaxed  in  complete  forget  fulness.  The 
feverish  flush  receded  from  Agatha's  brow.  She 
sat  with  drooping  eyelids,  a  pensive  madonna. 
Forbes'  wilful  gaze  would  not  observe  the  bounds 
of  propriety.  Again  and  again  it  sought  her,  and 
when  at  length  his  eyes  encountered  hers,  he  smiled 
his  congratulations.  She  gave  him  back  a  timid 
smile  with  a  curious  underlying  wist  fulness.  It 
needed  only  that  smile  to  clinch  his  faith  in  her. 

When  the  call  for  luncheon  was  given,  he  crossed 
the  aisle.  "Won't  you  let  me  stay  with  the  children 
while  you  eat  ?  With  the  baby  asleep,  I  think  I  can 
safely  make  the  offer." 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  310 

In  a  voice  hardly  above  a  whisper,  Agatha  ex- 
plained that  they  had  brought  sandwiches. 

"But  you'll  let  me  bring  you  in  a  cup  of  tea  or 
coffee,  won't  you?  You've  had  a  very  strenuous 
morning  and  you  certainly  need  something  in  the 
way  of  a  stimulant.'* 

Perversely  Agatha  declined  the  offer,  though  she 
was  longing  to  say  yes.  It  was  not  that  she  felt 
the  need  of  tea  or  coffee  or  of  an3rthing  so  gross  as 
food  or  drink,  but  there  was  something  ineffably 
refreshing  in  his  solicitude  for  her  comfort.  His 
good  offices  declined,  Forbes  touched  his  hat  and 
was  turning  away,  when  Charlie  Briggs  plunged 
into  the  aisle  and  seized  his  coat.  "I  don't  want  you 
to  go,"  he  howled. 

'  Forbes  came  back,  boyishly  eager.  "Let  me  take 
him  with  me,  won't  you  ?  You  will  have  your  hands 
full  enough  with  the  three  and  I  promise  not  to  give 
him  anything  a  child  of  his  age  ought  not  to  eat." 

Agatha  had  already  regretted  her  obduracy.  She 
gave  the  desired  permission  with  a  radiant  smile, 
impelling  Forbes  to  think  excusingly  how  very 
young  she  must  have  been  when  she  married  Mr. 
Briggs.  As  he  went  toward  the  dining-car,  Charlie 
clinging  to  his  hand,  the  owner  of  the  poodle  ex- 


320  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

pressed  to  her  husband  the  conviction  that  some- 
thing or  somebody  was  shameless.  She  would  have 
characterized  herself  as  possessing  a  forgiving  dis- 
position but  would  have  added  that  there  are  some 
things  nobody  can  be  expected  to  overlook.  The 
case  of  the  two  children,  six  months  apart,  was  one 
of  them. 

Forbes  returned  from  the  dining-car  looking  at 
his  watch.  The  porter  appeared  without  warning 
and  brushed  him  off  obsequiously.  Agatha's  heart 
contracted.  It  needed  no  prophet  to  foretell  what 
was  about  to  happen. 

He  came  to  her  side,  addressing  her  pleasantly. 
"I  leave  you  at  the  next  station.     I  expect  to  meet"" 
a  friend  there.     I  wish  I  might  have  gone  farther 
and  relieved  you  a  little  of  your  responsibilities." 

He  checked  himself  suddenly,  thinking  that  this 
rather  silent  young  woman  was  about  to  speak.  She 
was  looking  up  at  him  with  a  strange,  disconcerting 
earnestness.  Nor  had  his  intuition  been  at  fault. 
For  a  moment  Agatha  did  battle  with  an  almost  ir- 
resistible temptation  to  shout  at  him,  "J  am  Agatha 
Kent." 

Almost  at  once  she  realized  the  folly  of  her  mo- 
mentary purpose.    He  was  about  to  leave  tlie  train. 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  321 

There  was  no  time  for  explanations,  to  say  nothing 
of  coming  to  an  understanding.  Moreover  it  was 
possible  that  the  friend  he  was  to  meet  was  JuHa 
herself.  This  last  thought  completed  the  paralysis 
of  her  passing  impulse.  In  a  stifled  voice  she  told 
him  that  he  had  been  very  kind. 

"You  are  a  very  courageous  young  woman/* 
Forbes  replied.  "I  hope  you  won't  be  too  tired 
when  you  reach  your  destination."  He  patted 
Charlie's  shoulder  and  turned  away.  The  obsequious 
porter  was  removing  his  grips.  With  a  last  smile  to 
Agatha  he  went  down  the  aisle. 

Agatha  leaned  back  in  her  seat  and  closed  her 
eyes.  The  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks  unchecked. 
Probably  this  was  the  last  time  she  would  ever  see 
him  and  that  was  no  cause  for  regret  since  the  pleas- 
ure of  such  encounters  was  so  over-balanced  by  the 
pain.  And  moreover  he  must  be  on  the  point  of 
marrying  Julia,  if  he  had  not  already  made  her  his 
wife.  It  was  better  that  he  should  go  his  way,  un- 
aware that  again  their  paths  had  crossed. 

Forbes,  stepping  to  the  station  platform,  gave  his 
grips  to  a  station  porter  and  looked  about  for  War- 
ren. A  minute  or  two  passed  before  he  could  dis- 
tinguish him  in  the  crowd  and  he  was  beginning  to 


322  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

think  his  friend  was  late,  when  his  eye  fell  upon 
him  standing  at  the  edge  of  the  platfonn  and  gaz- 
ing idly  at  the  train  which  had  been  a  little  behind- 
hand, and  was  already  beginning  to  pull  out. 

Forbes  approached  him  briskly,  the  porter  at  his 
heels.  His  lips  were  parted  to  speak  the  other's 
name,  when  Warren  started  violently  and  took  a 
step  forward.    "Hephzibah!"  he  shouted. 

Forbes  spun  on  his  heel.  The  coach  he  had  just 
quitted  was  passing.  From  the  window  a  girl 
looked  out,  a  girl  with  disheveled  red-gold  hair  and 
tear-stained  cheeks.  In  an  instant  he  understood. 
The  girl  in  charge  of  the  four  children  was  Agatha. 
It  could  be  nobody  but  Agatha.  He  knew  now  what 
she  had  wanted  to  say  when  she  had  looked  up  at 
him.  He  understood  the  wistfulness  of  her  smile, 
the  entreaty  in  her  eyes.  He  had  searched  for  her 
vainly  all  winter,  and  a  moment  before  he  had 
talked  to  her  face  to  face  and  had  not  known. 

Forbes'  reason  was  in  abeyance.  The  last  car  of 
the  long  vestibuled-train  was  just  abreast  him,  mov- 
ing with  considerable  velocity.  With  a  spring  he 
gained  the  lower  step,  seizing  the  railings  on  either 
side.  He  was  vaguely  aware  of  a  shout  from  the 
receding  platform  and  he  almost  thought  he  could 


FELLOW  TRAVELERS  323 

distinguish  Warren's  voice  lifted  in  a  bellow  of 
astonishment.  But  for  the  time  being  all  other  emo- 
tions were  submerged  by  an  overwhelming  satisfac- 
tion in  the  realization  that  Agatha  and  he  were  still 
fellow  travelers. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


AN  INTRODUCTION 


FORBES  waited  for  the  door  to  be  opened  with 
sensations  approximating  those  of  a  naughty 
boy,  caught  in  mischief.  Man  of  the  world  as  he 
was,  he  recoiled  from  the  prospect  before  him.  He 
had  never  been  of  the  temperament  to  ignore  prece- 
dent and  defy  regulations,  and  the  necessary  ex- 
planations to  outraged  authority  were  no  more 
attractive  because  they  were  something  new  in  his 
experience.  Hardly  more  agreeable  than  his  antici- 
pations of  an  interview  with  the  conductor  was  the 
realization  of  the  probable  comments  of  his  fellow 
passengers,  the  smiles  that  would  be  exchanged,  the 
curious  conjectures  passed  from  one  to  another,  as 
to  the  occasion  for  his  act. 

As  Forbes  reflected  ruefully  on  the  coming  ordeal, 
his  hat  was  lifted  lightly  from  his  head  and  sent 
whirling  on  an  independent  journey.  His  impulse 
to  snatch  after  it  was  checked  by  the  discovery  that 

324 


AN  INTRODUCTION  325 

he  needed  both  hands  for  another  purpose,  needed 
them  imperatively,  for  the  lurch  of  the  train  had 
nearly  thrown  him  off  his  balance.  He  tightened 
his  grip  and  gave  himself  up  to  irritated  reflection. 
Like  most  men,  Forbes  was  pathetically  dependent 
on  his  hat.  He  never  so  much  as  crossed  the  street 
without  it.  Now  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  the 
rest  of  his  journey  hatless  and  leave  the  train  in 
some  unfamiliar  city,  stared  at  by  the  crowd  who 
would  mistake  him  for  a  faddist,  demonstrating  a 
protest  against  conventional  garb.  Forbes'  annoy- 
ance gave  vent  in  a  profane  ejaculation. 

The  next  to  go  were  his  eye-glasses.  Again 
Forbes'  inclination  to  clutch  for  his  vanishing  pos- 
sessions was  conquered  just  in  time  to  save  him 
from  following  in  their  wake.  The  narrow  margin 
by  which  he  had  missed  death  did  not  prevent  him 
from  grieving  over  his  glasses.  He  had  no  others 
with  him.  He  would  not  be  able  to  read  till  he 
reached  home,  and  the  strain  on  his  eyes  would 
probably  bring  on  a  severe  headache.  His  hat  could 
be  replaced  at  the  first  shop,  but  not  his  glasses.  He 
found  it  hard  to  be  reconciled  to  such  ill  luck. 

It  was  several  minutes  before  the  realization  was 
brought  home  to  Forbes  that  the  loss  of  these  belong- 


326  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

ings  was  a  very  trifling  matter.  By  that  time  his 
feeling  of  reluctance  to  have  the  door  opened  had 
entirely  vanished.  In  his  boyhood  he  had  frequently 
played  "crack  the  whip."  His  sensations  when  the 
line  of  runners  suddenly  halted,  and  he,  a  little  fel- 
low bringing  up  the  rear,  was  sent  sprawling  over 
the  grass,  were  being  duplicated  in  this  memorable 
ride.  The  express  was  playing  "crack  the  whip" 
with  himself  as  snapper.  Once  as  the  train  rounded 
a  curve,  both  feet  flew  from  under  him,  and  the 
unexpected  jerk  upon  his  arms  almost  broke  his 
hold.  He  could  hardly  believe  in  his  good  fortune 
when  he  found  himself  still  standing  on  the  step, 
holding  on  literally  for  dear  life.  For  now  he  knew 
that  in  his  desperate  determination  to  see  Agatha 
again,  he  had  taken  his  life  in  his  hands. 

Oddly  enough  it  was  not  the  likelihood  of  a  sud- 
den and  violent  death  which  presented  itself  most 
forcibly  to  his  imagination.  The  opportunities  he 
had  missed  with  Agatha  were  infinitely  more  dis- 
turbing. H  only  he  had  spoken  in  her  defense 
the  day  Julia  had  exhausted  her  ingenuity  in  wound- 
ing and  insulting  the  rival  she  instinctively  feared. 
But  he  had  stood  silent  while  Julia's  malice  spent 
itself.    And  later  when  time  had  revealed  the  affair 


AN  INTRODUCTION  327 

in  a  truer  perspective,  if  he  had  but  gone  to  her  and 
said  to  her  all  that  was  in  his  heart,  she  might  have 
been  his  wife  by  now.  One  inevitably  gets  down  to 
realities  when  life  flickers  like  a  candle  in  the  wind, 
and  Forbes  no  longer  debated  the  question  of 
Agatha's  love  for  him.  In  addition  to  Warren's 
testimony,  he  had  the  memory  of  a  kiss,  a  dream 
kiss,  pressed  on  his  cheeks  as  he  struggled  back  to 
consciousness  after  the  stormy  interview  with  Heph- 
zibah,  a  kiss  salt  with  tears  and  sweet  with  ineffable 
promise.  Forbes  heard  his  bitter  laughter  above  the 
roar  of  the  train.  "God!"  his  voice  said,  "what  a 
mess  I've  made  of  things." 

Forbes  had  never  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  in- 
telligence of  that  portion  of  the  traveling  public 
which  puts  its  head  out  of  the  window  of  a  moving 
train.  Indeed  he  had  always  classified  it  with 
the  people  who  maim  or  kill  their  best  friends  by 
playful  maneuvers  with  guns  that  are  not  loaded. 
From  this  time  on,  his  ideas  on  the  subject  were  to 
be  revolutionized.  He  was  destined  to  think  of  the 
above-named  individuals  as  philanthropists  of  a  high 
order. 

A  man  in  the  smoking-car,  thrusting  his  head  out 
of  the  window  at  a  time  when  the  curving  of  the 


328  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

track  brought  the  rear  coach  into  full  view,  made  a 
discovery  which  he  promptly  imparted  to  the  con- 
ductor. That  official,  properly  incredulous,  ex- 
tended his  own  head  from  the  window  and  verified 
the  passenger's  astonishing  statement.  And  at  the 
moment  when  Forbes'  imagination  was  busy  with 
the  gruesome  details  relating  to  the  discovery  of 
his  lifeless  body  lying  beside  the  tracks,  the  vestibule 
door  suddenly  opened  and  the  face  of  indignant 
authority  looked  down  at  him. 

They  dragged  Forbes  inside  after  unclenching  his 
hands  for  him,  his  stiffened  muscles  refusing  that 
simple  service.  The  conductor  failing  to  recognize 
in  this  disheveled  individual  with  the  unsteady 
knees,  the  respectable  passenger  whose  ticket  he  had 
punched  earlier  in  the  trip,  not  unnaturally  assumed 
that  Forbes  was  drunk  and  acting  on  that  supposi- 
tion, proceeded  to  make  himself  very  disagreeable. 
As  Forbes  regained  his  shaken  dignity,  and  paid  his 
fare,  the  man  in  uniform  became  less  truculent  and 
in  the  end,  positively  congratulatory. 

Forbes'  grips  were  in  the  possession  of  an  un- 
known porter  at  a  station  some  thirty  miles  back, 
and  he  made  as  satisfactory  a  toilet  as  was  possible 
without  the  aid  of  their  contents,  before  returning 


AN  INTRODUCTION  329 

to  the  coach  where  lately  he  had  devoted  himself  to 
entertaining  Charlie  Briggs,  unaware  that  the  door 
of  Paradise  stood  ajar  just  across  the  aisle.  Here 
(disappointment  awaited  him.  Agatha,  having  learned 
from  bitter  experience  that  activity  is  the  best  of 
balms  for  a  sore  heart,  had  resolved  on  washing  the 
hands  and  faces  of  her  charges  and  giving  their 
hair  proper  attention.  To  make  the  toilet  of  four 
children  in  the  limited  accommodations  of  a  Pull- 
man, with  the  certainty  that  at  any  moment  the 
lurch  of  the  train  may  precipitate  you  into  the  wlash 
basin,  or  through  the  hanging  curtains  out  into  the 
aisle,  is  a  process  requiring  time  and  patience. 
Forbes  sat  in  his  former  place,  biting  his  lips  for 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  before  he  saw  the  little 
procession  slowly  making  its  way  down  the  aisle. 

Forbes'  uncomfortable  uncertainty  as  to  whether 
he  had  made  a  fool  of  himself  or  not,  vanished  at 
the  sight  of  Agatha.  Worn  and  weary  as  she  looked, 
her  eyes  still  reddened  from  weeping,  she  had  never 
seemed  to  him  so  infinitely  dear  and  desirable.  Such 
trivial  things  as  corrugated  palms  and  lost  eye- 
glasses and  a  narrow  escape  from  death,  no  longer 
mattered. 

Charlie  Briggs   was  the   first  to   discover  him. 


330  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"My  man's  come  back,"  he  shouted  jubilantly  and 
ran  into  Forbes'  arms.  Agatha's  eyes  followed  him, 
and  she  stopped  short,  her  flushed  cheeks  paling. 
For  a  moment  Forbes  thought  her  about  to  faint  and 
started  to  his  feet  to  assist  her,  but  immediately  she 
had  regained  her  self-control  and  walked  steadily 
to  her  seat,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  she  did  not 
feel  the  floor  beneath  her  feet  and  was  scarcely  con- 
scious of  the  child  in  her  arms.  He  had  come  back 
and  intuition  told  her  why. 

Forbes  rose  and  crossed  the  aisle.  "Charlie,"  he 
said  in  a  voice  of  authority,  "take  your  little  sisters 
to  my  seat  and  play  with  them  for  a  while." 

Charlie  Briggs  demurred. 

"Run  along,"  Forbes  insisted.  "And  when  I  get 
a  chance  to  buy  you  some  candy  you  shall  have 
enough  to  make  you  sick  for  a  month." 

"Us  too?"  asked  the  curly-haired  girl,  ready  to 
oppose  any  unfair  sex-discrimination. 

"Yes,  you,  too,"  Forbes  promised  recklessly. 
"Enough  so  all  three  of  you  will  need  a  doctor." 

It  was  not  in  human  nature  to  resist  such  a  bribe. 
The  three  crossed  immediately  to  the  opposite  sec- 
tion.   Forbes  took  the  seat  at  Agatha's  side. 

A  silence  at  once  inevitable  and  ridiculous  fell  be- 


AN  INTRODUCTION  331 

tween  them.  There  was  so  much  to  be  said  that 
there  seemed  no  rational  starting  point.  He  wanted 
to  ask  what  she  was  doing  with  all  those  children, 
but  the  query  seemed  to  put  her  on  the  defensive. 
She  was  longing  to  know  how  after  leaving  the 
train,  he  could  possibly  be  aboard  again,  but  she  left 
the  first  move  to  him.  Presently  a  mutual  attraction 
drew  their  eyes  together  and  Forbes  lost  no  more 
time. 

**Have  you  had  long  enough,"  he  said  a  trifle  un- 
steadily, "to  decide  on  that  proposition  I  made  you 
nine  months  ago  to  a  day?" 

"I — I —  What  proposition  do  you  mean  ?" 

"That  we  should  set  up  housekeeping  together?" 

Agatha  seemed  trying  to  remember,  "Wasn't 
that  for  last  winter  only?" 

"No.  It's  for  this  summer  and  next  winter  and 
for  all  the  summers  and  winters  that  ever  will  be." 

She  regarded  him  amazedly.  "You're  not — ^you 
can't  be—" 

"But  I  am,  exactly  that.  Will  you  marry  me, 
Agatha?" 

"Listen !"  A  little  flutter  of  laughter  escaped  her 
and  he  loved  the  sound  of  it.  "Do  you  realize  those 
are  the  first  words  you've  ever  spoken  to  me — the 


332  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

real  me,  that  we've  just  been  introduced  ?  Of  course 
we  had  any  number  of  good  talks  when  I  was  Great- 
aunt  Agatha  Kent." 

"Bless  her  dear  heart !"  Forbes  interjected  grate- 
fully. 

"And  we  had  one  rather  exciting  interview  when 
I  was  Hephzibah." 

"Yes,  I  have  reason  to  remember  that  interview." 
He  looked  at  her  meaningly  and  gloated  over  her 
blush. 

"And  now  I'm  just  Agatha,"  she  went  on  bravely, 
ignoring  her  scarlet  cheeks.  "And  the  very  first 
words  you  say  to  me  are  to  ask  me  to  marry  you." 

"And  they're  the  words  I  shall  keep  saying  till 
you  promise." 

She  shot  him  a  side-long  glance.  "But  what — 
what  about  Julia?" 

"She  was  married  early  in  January.  They  have 
been  spending  the  winter  in  Palm  Beach,  I  under- 
stand." 

"Oh !"  There  was  such  compassion  in  her  voice, 
such  pitying  tenderness  in  her  eyes  that  she  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  being  kissed  on  the  spot. 

He  compromised  by  taking  her  hand.  "Listen, 
dear  girl.     Let's  clear  this  thing  up  once  for  all. 


AN  INTRODUCTION  323 

I've  had  a  narrow  escape.  The  JuHa  I  loved  was 
no  more  real  than  your  Hephzibah.  I  knew  my  mis- 
take that  day  when  she  attacked  you  at  Oak  Knoll. 
The  cruelty  of  it  was  a  revelation.  I  can't  tmder- 
stand  now  why  I  listened  without  protest,  but  you 
must  remember  that  I  had  received  a  staggering 
surprise." 

"Staggering  and  cruel !"  Her  fingers  tightened 
about  his.  *T  tried  so  hard  to  tell  you  everything 
that  day  in  the  woods  and  I  was  such  a  coward 
that  the  words  wouldn't  come.  How  can  you  ever 
forgive  me?" 

"Hush,  dear  love!  I  shall  shock  this  train-load 
of  people  if  you  are  not  careful.  I  was  too  dazed 
and  bewildered  that  first  day  to  be  quite  responsible 
for  what  I  did  or  left  undone.  But  within  twenty- 
four  hours  I  spoke  my  mind  so  plainly  as  to  termi- 
nate the  friendship  between  Miss  Studley  and  my- 
self.   I  have  never  seen  nor  heard  from  her  since." 

The  look  she  turned  on  him  made  him  hang  his 
head.  The  certainty  that  elates  most  men,  humbles 
those  of  finer  mold. 

"Agatha,  my  dearest,  you  talk  of  my  forgiving 
you.    Can  you  ever  forgive  me  ?" 

The  train  was  slowing  for  a  stop  before  they  had 


334  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

settled  that  delicate  question.  Agatha  argued  that 
it  was  preposterous  to  talk  of  forgiving  one  who  in 
every  relation  of  life  was  absolute  perfection. 
Forbes  insisted  that  her  attitude  proved  her  an 
angel.  The  baby,  with  a  discretion  beyond  its  years, 
refrained  from  offering  any  interruption  to  this 
absorbing  conversation,  though  occasionally  its 
toothless  gums  were  revealed  in  what  might  have 
impressed  the  unprejudiced  on-looker  as  a  derisive 
smile. 

After  the  brief  stop,  a  train  boy  appeared  shout- 
ing Forbes'  name.  He  proved  to  be  the  bearer  of  a 
telegram  from  Warren,  Forbes  and  Agatha  read 
it  together : 

"If  enough  is  left  of  you  to  make  the  marriage 
ceremony  valid  advise  clenching  matter  at  the  first 
stop  run  no  risk  of  letting  her  get  away  from  us 
again." 

"Warren  seems  to  be  laboring  under  the  impres- 
sion," frowned  Forbes,  "that  he  comes  in  on  this. 
Except  for  that  slight  error — " 

Agatha  interpolated  irrelevantly  that  Warren  was 
a  dear. 

"He's  not  half  bad."  Forbes  admitted  generously. 


AN  INTRODUCTION  335 

"And  apart  from  his  erroneous  impression  that  this 
is  a  partnership  affair,  the  message  impresses  me 
favorably.    What  do  you  think?" 

"How  do  you  know,"  questioned  Agatha  inter- 
estedly, "that  I'm  not  already  married  to  a  widower 
with  four  small  children  ?" 

"I'll  own  the  thought  crossed  my  minS.  But  I 
wouldn't  consider  it.  You  looked  too  sad  for  a 
bride." 

Agatha  put  her  hand  into  his  quite  shamelessly. 
"Of  course  I  would  look  sad  if  I  had  been  so  silly 
as  to  marry  somebody  else." 

"Who  are  these  children  anyway?"  Forbes  asked, 
as  if  he  had  just  thought  of  it. 

"Orphans.  Orphans  who  are  going  to  be  adopted. 
The  homes  have  been  investigated  and  they're  all 
right.  Now  I'm  going  to  leave  the  children  for  a 
six  months'  trial,  and  if  at  the  end  of  that  time 
everybody  is  satisfied,  they  will  be  legally  adopted." 
Agatha  added  casually  that  they  would  reach  the 
baby's  future  home  at  five  o'clock  and  that  she 
would  be  rather  glad  to  get  him  off  her  hands  be- 
fore nightfall.  Forbes  recalled  a  statement  of 
Charlie  Briggs  much  to  the  same  effect,  and  was 
man  enough  to  apologize  mentally  to  the  youngster. 


336  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

Agatha's  next  remark  had  to  Forbes  a  delicious 
suggestion  of  wifely  authority.  "Why  aren't  you 
wearing  your  glasses  ?" 

He  explained  the  fate  of  those  cherished  belong- 
ings and  did  his  best  to  make  light  of  the  whole  af- 
fair. But  Agatha  was  not  to  be  deceived.  Her 
eyes  widened  to  surprising  proportions.  Her  face 
grew  white. 

"You  might  have  been  killed.  It's  a  miracle  you 
weren't  killed." 

His  distress  over  the  discovery  that  she  was  cry- 
ing was  spiced  with  ecstasy.  She  interrupted  his 
clumsy  efforts  at  comfort  with  self-accusation. 
"And  if  you  had  been  killed,  I  would  have  been  to 
blame." 

"Why,  in  heaven's  name,  dearest  ?  My  own  folly 
would  have  been  solely  responsible.  But  when  I 
realized  that  I  had  actually  spoken  face  to  face  with 
you,  and  that  you  were  escaping  me  again,  I  lost  my 
head  completely." 

"If  I'd  told  you  who  I  was,  you  wouldn't  have 
had  any  reason  to  risk  your  life.  And  so  if  any- 
thing had  happened  it  would  have  been  all  my  fault." 

He  took  a  rather  base  advantage  of  her  self- 
reproach.    "I'll  forgive  you  on  one  conciition.    As 


AN  INTRODUCTION  2>2>7 

I  understand  it,  after  you  have  made  arrangements 
about  the  baby  you  will  spend  the  night  at  a  hotel 
and  take  the  train  to-morrow." 

"Yes,  that's  my  plan." 

"And  my  plan  is  that  you  marry  me  to-morrow; 
morning." 

"I  had  intended,"  Agatha  answered  reflectively, 
"to  take  an  eight  o'clock  train." 

"I  suppose  a  later  one  will  do." 

"Very  likely.  But  a  wedding  without  a  trous- 
seau! I  am  equal  to  a  trousseau  now,  you  know. 
I  have — or  did  have  a  little  while  ago — a  fortune  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars." 

"I  can't  think,"  Forbes  murmured,  "of  anything 
I  should  enjoy  better  than  helping  to  select  a  trous- 
seau— a  little  later." 

"You  know  I'm  responsible  for  Miss  Finch," 
Agatha  said  breathlessly.  "She's  not  going  to  be 
married  after  all." 

"Miss  Finch  is  a  member  of  my  family  from 
now  on." 

"And  Howard  I  It  was  all  make-believe  that  he 
was  a  young  friend  of  mine.  He's  really  my  darling 
brother." 

"And  mine  as  soon  as  you  say  the  i^ord.    Dear 


338  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

little  Miss  Proteus,"  cried  Forbes  with  a  laugh  that 
did  not  disguise  the  tenderness  of  his  voice,  "I'm 
afraid  to  let  you  out  of  my  sight  for  fear  you'll 
change  into  something  else,  a  mermaid  or  a  fairy, 
and  be  lost  to  me  forever." 

"I'm  sure  it  will  disappoint  Mrs.  Van  Home  if  I 
come  back  with  a  husband,"  mused  Agatha.  "It 
will  seem  such  a  childish  performance.  And  yet — 
when  you've  made  up  your  mind  that  all  that's  left 
in  life  for  you  is  to  go  on  doing  your  duty  and  try- 
ing to  be  kind  to  everybody,  and  then  happiness 
comes  back  and  knocks  at  your  door,  you — you — 
oh.  Burton — it's  not  in  human  nature  to  keep  her 
waiting." 

After  a  party,  consisting  of  a  smiling  gentleman, 
a  radiant  girl  and  four  tired  children,  had  left  the 
train,  one  of  the  people  who  always  know  the  de- 
tails of  everybody's  business,  sketched  their  history 
for  the  benefit  of  the  owner  of  the  poodle. 

"They  had  a  dreadful  quarrel,  you  know,  the  way 
young  people  will,  and  she  was  going  home  to  her 
father's.  Somehow  or  other  he  learned  what  train 
she  was  to  take  and  got  aboard  just  at  the  last 
minute." 

The   listener   knitted   blonde   brows.     "I  didn't 


AN  INTRODUCTION  339 

really  feel  sure  the  woman  was  in  her  right  mind. 
She  made  some  absurd  statement  about  those  two 
little  girls.  Said  there  was  six  months*  difference 
in  their  ages." 

"She  was  so  excited  she  didn't  know  what  she 
was  saying,"  explained  the  omniscient  traveler. 
*'He  sent  her  messages  by  the  little  boy  and  when 
she  wouldn't  pay  any  attention,  he  brought  her  to 
time  by  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  rear  coach  for 
more  than  an  hour.  It  was  a  wonder  he  wasn't 
killed." 

The  stout  blonde  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  was 
woman's  place  to  forgive. 

"Well,  that  melted  her,  and  you  can't  wonder. 
The  porter  in  the  rear  coach  told  our  porter  that 
when  they  dragged  him  aboard  he  hardly  had 
strength  to  stand  on  his  feet.  It  didn't  take  them 
long  to  get  things  fixed  up  after  that.  I  went  for  a 
drink  of  water  after  they'd  been  talking  for  half  an 
hour  or  so,  and  he'd  picked  up  the  baby,  and  I'm 
pretty  sure  from  the  way  he  held  that  child,  he  was 
using  it  just  as  a  screen  and  kissing  the  mother 
behind  it." 

"Awful  fretful  baby,"  commented  the  stout 
blonde.    "I'm  glad  it  won't  be  on  the  train  to-night." 


340  AGATHA'S  AUNT 

"Looks  as  if  they'd  started  out  to  have  a  real  old- 
fashioned  family,"  said  the  omniscient  narrator. 
"None  of  the  children  looks  like  her  but  the  curly- 
haired  girl  and  the  boy  are  the  image  of  their  papa." 


The  End 


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